


Different

by laurenjauregui



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: Autism, F/F, autistic!pb
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-05-13 07:42:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5700460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurenjauregui/pseuds/laurenjauregui
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Routines. Formulas. The quiet. Those are all of the things that Bonnibel likes to describe as her comfort zone, and she might need a little push to get out of it. AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally a one shot that got way out of hand. If you want me to continue it, just let me know and I will. Otherwise I probably won't.

The familiar creak of the door indicated her of another person's presence early enough. Bonnibel hunched over the test tubes she was working with, carefully applying an extra drop of starch to test tube two. Closing herself up was the intention.

"Hey, Bonnibel," She blinked down at her feet when she heard the awful scrape of chair legs against classroom floors. It made her skin crawl. "I've been meaning to come and see you for a little while now."

Bonnie shifted as the intruder sat down. Solitude was her safety net and it had been broken. She used her peripheral vision to fully identify her. Lady Rayner. Eleventh grade, like herself. Lots of friends.

Lady sent her a soft smile, her hazel eyes burning holes in Bonnie's skin. She didn't like the feeling at all. "What're you working on there, Bonnie?"

The nickname made her shift. She didn't like that, either. Bending names wasn't allowed. Her name was Bonnibel. Not Bonnie. That was set. It was orderly, and Bonnibel liked orderly.

She coughed and took her time to formulate a response to the question. Science was hers. Experiments were what she did in here. It was her lunchtime thing. She did not like being disturbed as it ruined her routine.

"I am conducting an experiment on starch in plant leaves." Bonnibel blinked down at the test tubes through her safety goggles. She shifted again, away from Lady. "It is a recap of our ninth grade experiment for the test soon."

"Oh, yeah, I remember doing that," Lady sent her another one of her wide smiles which Bonnie caught in her peripheral. "Elle nearly blew something up because she put the wrong chemical in the beaker."

"Being haphazard in the lab is not funny." Bonnibel's tone was clipped as she replied, and she didn't notice how Lady's demeanour changed completely, the atmosphere in the room thickening. "It is dangerous."

"Um, yeah," Lady shifted on her seat and tried another smile in an attempt to get the redhead to respond positively. "So, how are you? We haven't talked in a while, have we?"

Bonnibel frowned, unsure of which question to answer first. The wires in her brain all became crossed and she gripped onto the chair she was sat on, scrunching her face up in thought. It took her doubly as long to respond. "I am fine. We have not talked because you are busy with your friends."

"Oh, well- uh, I'm good too," Lady's attempts at conversation were obviously failing, not that Bonnibel even noticed. "I have been busy with my friends. Have you seen any of your friends?"

"I do not have friends." Bonnibel stared down at the test tubes in an effort to keep her mind focused on her experiment. "People think that I am weird."

"I'm your friend." Lady nudged Bonnibel with her arm and cringed when every muscle in the redhead's body tensed up. "Sorry, Bonnie. Didn't mean to do that. I forgot that you don't like it."

It took Bonnibel a few moments to come out of her shell. "You do not want to be my friend."

"What do you mean? Of course I do," Lady tried that same smile again. "I've known you since we were tiny. Remember? I used to spend loads of time with you."

"You do not want to be seen with me." Bonnibel shot down all of Lady's arguments in a second. "You never come and visit me and you disturb my routine. Friends do not disturb my routine."

"I'm visiting you right now." Lady pointed out, nodding towards the door. "Come on. We'll go for a nice little walk outside while your experiment sets. How about that?"

Bonnibel stared down at her lap and fiddled with her fingers. A walk outside would mean a change in routine and she didn't like the sound of that. She didn't want to leave her experiment, either. It was important.

"No." Bonnibel stared at the test tubes again. "I must stay here."

"Alright then, I'll wait for you to finish and then we'll go for a walk." Lady folded her arms across her chest. "Your mom told me that she wants you to go outside for a little while."

Bonnibel blinked in confusion. "My mother?"

"Yes," Lady nodded, "she said she wants you to go outside. What better time than the present? It would be nice for you and me to catch up, wouldn't it?"

"Please do not ask so many questions." Bonnibel scrunched her face in thought again. "I do not understand."

Lady dropped her voice to a whisper. "Bonnibel, look at me."

Bonnie looked up on command, her blue eyes big, wide and uncertain. She did not like the way Lady was looking straight at her. It made her very uncomfortable.

"I would really like it if you'd come for a walk with me now." Lady said slowly. "Can you do that for me, Bonnie?"

Bonnibel blinked and, unable to stand the direct eye contact any longer, stared back down at her feet. "Yes."

"Alright then," The scraping of Lady's chair indicated that she was leaving. Bonnie made no move to get up and continued to stare at her test tubes. "Come on. We're going for a walk."

At this prompt, Bonnibel stood up and stared straight ahead at the classroom door. She didn't like the sound of going out there. It was lunchtime and all of her peers were out there. Her peers bumped into her and poked and prodded at her and she didn't like it one bit. They also called her names she didn't like.

Bonnibel was her name. Not any of the things they called her.

As they made their way outside, Bonnibel stared at Lady's feet to get a good sense of direction, not realising that the blonde was taking the least crowded way outside that she could. Either way, there was a sense of relief when Bonnibel felt fresh air. Outdoors meant space.

Bonnie liked space.

"So, how are your family?" Lady sat down on the grass and looked up at Bonnibel. "Sit down here."

Bonnie nodded and sat down on the grass, keeping her hands firmly on her lap. She didn't like the way the grass felt against her palms. It was like little pinpricks against her skin. "My family are fine."

"Mine are too." Lady answered the return question that Bonnie wouldn't ask. She watched as the redhead shuffled uncomfortably. "Are you having fun at school this year?"

"Oh, yes," Academia was one of Bonnie's favourite things, "yes, school is very fun. I especially like science classes because it is formulaic and explains to me the proper ways that the world works. It is nice to know that every little thing is backed up by a formula and logic. I like formulas. Formulas have order."

Lady seemed a little taken aback by Bonnibel's sudden enthusiasm. Bonnie didn't pick up on this, or the fact that she seemed distracted. "Yeah. It's nice. Is it okay if my friends come and sit with us?"

Bonnibel collapsed in on herself almost immediately and shook her head frantically, but Lady wasn't looking. Friends meant loud noises and lots of people poking and prodding at her. Friends meant people she didn't know, nor was she comfortable with.

By the time she'd opened her mouth to respond, it was too late. People she recognised but didn't know were sitting down, encircling her, closing her in until it was starting to become too much.

A muscular boy slung an arm around Lady. "Who's your friend, babe?"

He had drawn attention to her, and suddenly the other people were a lot more interested in her. As their interest increased, Bonnibel closed herself off more and more, trying to ignore the way they were looking at her. Five pairs of eyes on her felt like a thousand little bugs crawling across her skin, making her want to scratch herself until her skin was raw.

A blond boy addressed her directly. "Aren't you in my science class?"

Bonnie shifted uncomfortably. "I do not know. I doubt it. I am in the top class for science."

The boy with his arm around Lady snorted with laughter and elbowed the other boy, but Bonnie didn't understand why he was laughing. It wasn't like she'd said anything funny, and Bonnie wasn't good at jokes anyway.

A girl dressed almost head to toe in purple clicked her fingers in front of Bonnie's face, probably to gather her attention. Bonnibel jumped backwards and didn't look up. "Aren't you that weird girl?"

Bonnie didn't answer to that and rubbed the material of her shirt between her thumb and forefinger in an effort to calm herself down. She didn't like that word. Weird. It made her uncomfortable because she knew it was negative and she wasn't sure why people were calling her that. She hadn't done anything wrong, as far as she knew.

"Elle," Lady sent her friend a stern look and the other girl held her hands up in defence. Then, Lady cleared her throat and motioned towards Bonnibel. "Everyone, this is Bonnibel. I've known her since I was a kid because her mom is friends with mine. We used to spend a lot of time together. Her mom wanted her to meet you all."

Unaware of that last fact, Bonnibel spoke up before Lady could continue. "My mother did not tell me this."

"Yeah, she said something about wanting you to make more friends, so…" Lady trailed off and Bonnie frowned to herself. Although she'd addressed some concerns to her mother about how lonely she felt at times, she didn't think that she'd do anything about it. Bonnie hadn't asked her to. "Anyway, Bonnibel, this is Jake, Finn, Elle and Marceline."

Bonnie kept her head down and nodded, following Lady's finger as she pointed at each person. Elle was the blonde who liked purple. Finn was the boy with the white hat with bear ears. Jake was the boy with his arm around Lady.

Marceline was the one she hadn't noticed.

Apparently, she wasn't very interested in Bonnie. She was just sat scrolling through her phone, caring enough to casually nod in Bonnibel's direction when Lady pointed to her. Bonnibel liked this. Uninterested was good. She didn't like attention.

After Lady had introduced her, everyone went back to their supposed lunchtime routine. Elle was gossiping about some girl and Finn and Jake didn't seem to care as they debated about superheroes. Once Bonnibel decided it was safe and everyone's eyes were no longer on her, she looked up and stared at Marceline, who was still invested in her phone.

She was very pretty, Bonnie decided. Her black hair looked soft, something that Bonnie might like to touch, and her jawline was perfectly sharp. She had green eyes, and Bonnibel liked green eyes. She'd learned in science class that green was the rarest eye colour, and she thought that Marceline's eyes were very beautiful. She still liked her hair best, though.

After a while of sitting near Lady's friends, Bonnibel quietly spoke up. "Lady?"

"Yeah?" Lady craned her neck in Bonnie's direction, and the redhead quickly dropped her gaze to her lap. "What's wrong?"

"Oh," Bonnie frowned as she tried to formulate an answer, "I would like to go back to my experiment now."

"Five more minutes, okay?" Lady dismissed her and turned back to Jake, "Jake and I will talk to you."

Bonnibel shook her head. "I would like to leave."

"Your mom wants you to make friends. You're not going to make friends if you just sit in the science room by yourself all the time." Lady warned her, her facial expression laced with guilt when she heard Bonnibel sniffle. "Stay for a few more minutes and then I'll walk you back to the science labs."

It was pointless, her staying a few more minutes. Nobody talked to her. Marceline stayed texting people, Elle gossiped with Lady and Finn and Jake told some jokes that she didn't get. Bonnibel decided that group interactions weren't for her. She could manage one-on-one interaction, but sitting in a group? No. Couldn't do it.

Once she'd been left by herself in the science room again, Bonnie allowed herself a brief sigh of relief before getting on with her work. That was where she liked it.

She decided she wouldn't leave her comfort zone again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Bonnibel talks to Marceline for the first time.

"Bonnibel?" Mr Petrikov, her science teacher, sent her a soft smile. "Can you please take your textbooks back to the library? It's all getting a bit cluttered in here."

She nodded and stacked the books up, glad that she was in a free period. The library was on the other side of school, and she didn't like the thought of venturing outside of science unless it was quiet. The last time she'd done that, it'd been a few weeks ago with Lady's friends. She hadn't seen them since, and Lady hadn't come to visit her either. Everything was settling back down into routine, and although it was a lonely routine, it was the one she was used to.

She made her way to the library and checked the books back in, taking it upon herself to make sure that they were ordered on the shelves. She didn't like messy bookcases.

She jumped in surprise when she heard a familiar voice. "Bonnibel?"

Bonnie glanced up for a few moments and connected the face to the name. "Finn. That is correct?"

"Yes," He flashed her a smile, but she didn't see much of it. Bonnie chose to stare past him, rather than directly at him. "Are you on a free period? Do you want to sit with me and Marceline?"

Bonnie squeezed her eyes closed, trying to untangle the two questions in her mind. "Yes, I am. I was sitting in the science labs."

"Do you want to sit with us?" He asked her again. His smile was welcoming, but she knew that she was probably interpreting it wrong. Although she knew that smiling meant that a person was happy, people smiled at her in different ways, and she didn't know what that meant. It was hard to differentiate good smiles from bad smiles. "We're doing math work."

The sound of academia perked her up significantly. "Yes, I would like to do mathematics." She followed after him as he headed over to Marceline, who was turned away from them. "Did you know that I am the top in school at both science and mathematics? I prefer science though, as it is interesting and teaches me how the world works. I especially love chemistry because it relates to medicine and I would like to be a doctor when I am older."

He took a moment to take in Bonnibel's sudden rambling. "Uh, yeah, that's cool. I want to be a policeman when I'm older. What about you, Marceline? What do you want to be when you're older?"

Marceline motioned to the guitar case next to her. "I would think that's pretty obvious."

Bonnibel stared at it for a moment with a frown. "I do not understand."

Instead of elaborating, Marceline looked straight at her with those piercing green eyes and Bonnibel felt herself jump. "You're…," Bonnie froze, waiting for a negative word to come after that. _Weird. Odd. A freak. Different_ , "Bonnibel. Right?"

Bonnie breathed out a sigh of relief. "Yes. Yes, I am."

Marceline didn't let her relax for too long. "And you're autistic, aren't you?"

Although Bonnie liked facts, that fact was one she didn't like to think about. It was why people called her different, and being different was a bad thing. Being different linked her to all of the other words and she hated it, she hated it so much when people laughed at her for something she didn't understand or poked at her and laughed when she went into sensory overload. It was horrible.

"Marceline, you can't just ask her that," Finn's voice pulled her out of her emotional stupor for a moment. "She's obviously sensitive about it."

"I was just asking." Marceline defended herself. "I didn't want to do something that makes her uncomfortable. Like, touch her or whatever."

Bonnibel blinked in surprise. Nobody had ever said anything like that before. People usually asked why she was so different because of their own curiosity. Not because they wanted to do what was in her best interest. It was strange. Alien.

"Still, if I was autistic, I wouldn't want people asking me about it all the time. Lady said not to." Finn seemed to think he was speaking in Bonnie's defence. "We don't want to upset her."

Bonnie shook her head. "It is alright. I am autistic. I do not like to be touched unless it is on my terms and it is someone that I care about very much, like my mother. I do not like eye contact or loud environments."

Marceline nodded at her. "And what do you like?"

"Science." Bonnibel fiddled with her fingers. Her mother had told her than rambling about her interests and her interests alone was impolite, but Marceline had prompted her, so Bonnie thought that it was okay. "I love science very much. I have liked science since I was a little girl and my mother promised me it would help me understand things more. I love being able to understand things as sometimes I get confused and accidentally upset people when I don't mean to."

"That's cool," Marceline commented, "Science can be… well, I hate it, but I guess it can help you understand stuff like that. It's cute that you have something you're so passionate about. Passion is a good quality."

Bonnibel bobbed her head in agreement. "Yes. I love science. Especially chemistry."

"Chemistry, huh?" Marceline raised an eyebrow and sent her a weird smile, and Bonnie couldn't figure out if it was a good one or not. "Tell me about that."

Bonnibel shifted in her chair and spared Finn a glance. He'd gone back to working on his homework and apparently wasn't paying them any attention. Then, she turned to Marceline with a confused frown. "Is that a good smile or a bad one?"

Whatever it was, Marceline's smile faded significantly. "What do you mean?"

"Well, my mother told me that some people can smile at me but in a mean way, and I am not able to differentiate these. You are not smiling like most people would and I am unsure as to if you're making fun of me." Bonnibel got that out all in one breath, and then played with her fingers to calm herself down. "Because I like you, and I would be upset if you are making fun of me."

Marceline stared at her for a moment and Bonnibel felt her skin start to itch. She shuffled uncomfortably and kept her gaze trained to her feet.

After taking her time to formulate a response, Marceline replied. "I'm not making fun of you. It's a good smile." She paused then, giving Bonnibel time to process this reply. Bonnie was grateful for it. "I'd like you to tell me about chemistry."

Bonnibel blinked, and then allowed herself a frantic nod before rambling. "Um, well, I very much like the formulaic approach. I like formulas and routines and it is nice to have a structure in my work. My favourite part is when we get to balance chemical equations in class, because I like finding a solution to problems. It is my dream to be a doctor and maybe conduct my own research on the side because I would like to win a Nobel Prize one day."

"Nobel Prize, huh? You must be really smart." Marceline commented. Bonnibel glanced up for a few seconds and looked away nervously when Marceline caught her eye and smiled at her. "You know, I think that you're going to win one. You're going to win all the science prizes when you're older."

"I have won many science fairs." Bonnibel told her. "I like to enter them when I can because I love it when I am given a prize because I am the best. I do not like it when people pity me because I am autistic."

"That's really interesting." Marceline was smiling at her again, but it was different to the others. Bonnibel hoped that it was good. "I won't pity you. Do you not want me to give you any special treatment?"

Bonnibel shook her head. "No. I would like you to treat me normally. Although, please be direct and do not ask too many questions at one time, as it can be confusing."

"Of course," Marceline nodded and glanced down at the papers in front of her, "Are you wanting to get back to the science labs? Lady mentioned that you like to hang out there."

Bonnibel nodded, although she was unsure why Marceline had asked. "Yes, it would be nice to go back. Mr Petrikov told me to bring books here."

"Mr Petrikov, huh?" Marceline repeated as she put her things back into her backpack. "He's really cool, isn't he? You know, he taught me how to play music. He's a really cool dude. Come on, I'll take you back to science."

At the last prompt, Bonnibel stood up. She kept a good distance behind Marceline at all times as they walked, listening to the raven haired girl talking about how she knew her science teacher from when she was little and that he'd fostered her as a child. Bonnie wasn't sure when she should respond or react, or if she was supposed to at all, so she kept quiet until they'd arrived back in the science room.

Bonnibel sat down at her usual spot and was pleased to see that her backpack and notes hadn't been touched. Happily, she picked up the pen she'd left on the desk and continued with her notes, surprised when Marceline sat down next to her.

"You said you liked routines earlier," Marceline pointed out. Bonnie halted mid-sentence and dropped her pen on the table. "Would you like it if we made a routine?"

Bonnie blinked. "A routine for what?"

"For me to come and visit you. You like to hang out here, and I don't want to pop up randomly and throw your routine out of whack." Marceline explained, and Bonnibel's eyes widened in surprise.

"You would like to spend time with me?" Bonnibel fiddled with her fingers and looked up, managing to hold eye contact with Marceline for a few moments to see her nod, before returning her gaze to her feet. "That would be lovely. I get rather lonely sometimes."

Something odd crossed Marceline's face then, but Bonnibel couldn't decipher it. "Well, I don't want you to be lonely. How many days would you like company?"

Bonnie bit on her lip in thought. Although she was lonely at times, sometimes she liked her solitude. It took her a while to decide. "Two days. Tuesday and Thursday."

"Okay," Marceline agreed, "I'll come and visit you at lunchtime on Tuesday and Thursday."

Bonnie shifted and Marceline saw the concern written across her face. "Every week?"

"Every week." Marceline confirmed. Bonnibel's face broke out into a beam and then she picked her pen back up, tapping it on the table rhythmically. "Why were you so surprised that I'd want to spend time with you?"

Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut and tried to ignore how her mind automatically jumped to something else. Someone else. No, that wasn't what she wanted to think about. "People think that I am weird. They only talk to me to make fun of me. They use lots of figurative language and laugh when I do not understand. They say I am stupid but they're wrong because I'm very smart and just because I do not understand some things does not mean I am unintelligent. They poke me and I do not like being poked."

"You still didn't answer my question," Marceline pointed out, and Bonnibel saw that the smile she was wearing had been wiped from her face completely. There was something else there. "Why were you so surprised that I'd want to spend time with you?"

"I am difficult to interact with and I am aware of this." Bonnibel began flapping her hands nervously. It was calming for her and she did it whenever she was confused or heated. "I make people uncomfortable and I do not intend to do this. Most people who speak to me feel awkward and then tell me that they do not want to spend any more time with me as I cannot hold conversation very well and do not understand their jokes. I think that they forget I have feelings. They think I am robotic and unfeeling and I wish that I could show them I'm not like that. Because I am very loving and it makes me sad that people do not believe that."

Marceline's voice was soft when she spoke again. "I believe that you're loving. I don't think you're robotic. You're not making me feel awkward or uncomfortable and you're doing great with holding conversation. I think you just needed to find people who'll be patient with you."

"Patient." Bonnie repeated. She dropped her hands to her lap and nodded. "Yes. Patience is good. You promise that you are not making fun of me?"

"I promise." Marceline put a hand on her chest. "Hand on heart. I'm not making fun of you."

"Good. That is relieving." Bonnie smiled to herself. "I like you. I do not like many people as they can be loud and confusing, but you are not these things."

Marceline flashed her another toothy grin as she stood up. "Thanks. You're cute. I'll see you on Thursday?"

"Yes. Thursday." Bonnibel turned her back as she heard the other girl's footsteps fade away, an odd flutter in her chest that she had trouble identifying.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Bonnie and Marceline have their first lunch date.

Bonnibel eagerly jotted down the notes that her teacher was writing on the board. This was her favourite part of school; the lesson times, the note taking, the educational side. Not the social side. She hated breaks and lunchtimes, but she absolutely loved lesson time.

"Okay, so, does everyone get what we're doing?" Mr Petrikov turned and addressed the whole class. After numerous nods and murmurs and an enthusiastic "Yes!" from Bonnie, he beamed. "Okay. Sort yourselves out into groups of no less than two and no more than four. It's time for a practical experiment."

At his words, Bonnie significantly deflated. Although she loved practical experiments, she hated group work. Nobody ever picked her to be in their group and she always felt so alienated when Mr Petrikov placed her in a group of friends she didn't know for the experiments; they always made her do all the work while they sat and chatted amongst themselves. Sometimes Bonnie would try and join in, but they'd never let her.

Instead of moving around like the rest of her classmates, Bonnibel sat and fiddled with her fingers, keeping her gaze trained directly towards her feet. It was only a matter of time before Mr Petrikov would notice that she was by herself and try to get her into a group.

She jumped in surprise when the chairs on either side of her – that were always empty – were pulled out. Out of her peripheral vision, she tried to identify the two people. On her left was Finn, who was flicking through his notebook to a blank page, and on her right was Jake, who didn't seem to care about whatever they were doing in the lesson.

"Hey," Jake took interest in her and sent her a warm smile, "Is it okay if we work with you? Neither of us really know what we're doing and we don't want to blow anything up by accident."

"Yes, that is alright," Bonnie was surprised that they were offering – this kind of thing had never happened before. "You cannot blow anything up though. There are no possible combinations of the chemicals that we will be using that would cause a negative reaction. You may get a bad grade, however."

Finn beamed. "See, told you she was smart. Maybe her smartness will rub off on us."

"That is not how it works." Bonnie was quick to reply with logic, not understanding Finn's joke. "But you may become smarter if you work hard. That is how I am so smart. My mother told me that I am the smartest person she has ever met."

Finn and Jake exchanged a look, and Bonnie was unsure of what it meant. She went to ask them – another thing that her mother had told her to do when she didn't understand something – but Finn spoke up again. "Yeah, we get it. We're going to have to pull our weight, Jake."

Jake laughed, but Bonnie didn't understand what was so funny. Instead, she decided to ask something else. "Is Marceline still coming to see me?"

Again, they looked at each other in a different way than before. Another expression that Bonnie couldn't decipher.

Jake eventually shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't really know she was supposed to be coming to see you."

Bonnie's nod in reply was almost frantic and her speech was much faster than it had been before. "Yes, she promised me that she would come and see me every Tuesday and Thursday at lunchtime. Since it is Thursday today and the first time she will be coming I do not want her to forget. I have been looking forward to it because I think she is wonderful."

"That's nice of her." Finn replied. "Usually she spends Thursday with her other friends. The only day she spends with us is a Monday. Every other day she's with them."

"Her other friends." Bonnie repeated. "Are they nice? Will they be coming to see me as well? I do not want more people coming into my science room. It is my place of solitude."

Jake carefully put a hand on her shoulder, probably to attempt to calm her down. Bonnibel flinched away from the touch, every muscle in her body tightening at the thought of physical contact. She didn't like it from anyone but the people she cared about.

Instead of replying to whatever Jake had said to her after touching her, she squeezed her eyes shut and flapped her hands in front of her. She heard a few giggles, but they did nothing but make her all the more self-conscious. Finn started scolding Jake, similarly to how he'd spoken to Marceline when she'd asked about Bonnie's autism, but everything had started to blur together. The laughter was louder, more prominent, and she just _knew_ that it was about her; people always laughed whenever she began showing symptoms, which wasn't that irregular. Although she was high functioning, there were areas where she wasn't as well performing such as the social side of things, and when she did anything outside of the social norm it was like she was suddenly a Martian. But Bonnie didn't know what the social norm entailed, and that was what made things worse.

She managed to identify Finn's voice through all of the white noise. "Bonnibel? Try to think about something else. Like your mom, we know you love your mom a lot. Or your lunchtime meeting with Marceline – that sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun."

Slowly, she nodded. Yes, her lunchtime meeting with Marceline was going to be fun. Bonnibel had brought in her spare pair of safety goggles for the other girl – her other pair were always on her face whenever she was in the lab – and she had a fun experiment planned, because she knew that it was interesting. Marceline would appreciate something that was interesting.

"Yes," Eventually, she managed to breathe out, "yes, fun. Marceline. She is very interesting, isn't she?"

"I don't know," Finn shrugged, "I've known her the longest, but I found her interesting when I first met her. Jake thought she was scary, but that was just because she liked messing with him."

"Yeah, and it was out of line." Jake folded his arms across his chest indignantly. "It was like she wanted me to be scared of her."

Finn rolled his eyes. "Marceline messes with everyone, dude. Lighten up."

Bonnie's face twisted into a frown. Marceline liked to mess with people? Did that mean that she was messing with Bonnie? "Is she messing with me?"

"I don't think so," Jake shook his head, "You'd know."

"Because people like to make fun of me." Bonnibel didn't let Jake's answer reassure her. Something he'd be able to identify didn't equate to something that Bonnie would understand. "They pretend to be my friend and then trick me into doing things and then they laugh at me and it makes me frightened that everyone is going to do that."

Finn shushed her – she knew she was getting heated again. "Marcy wouldn't do that. She probably just really likes you and wants to be your friend."

"Friend?" Bonnibel looked up at the sound of the 'f' word. She didn't get that many people saying it around her. "I do not understand why she would want to be my friend. She has lots of friends already."

"That doesn't mean she can't have one more." Jake was quick to shoot that down. "You're our friend, too. Why do you think we'd want to work with you in a group?"

"Some people like to use me for my intelligence." Bonnibel fiddled with her fingers. "I have stopped thinking that anyone who talks to me is my friend because of liars."

"Well, we're not going to do that." Finn smiled and reached over her to grab one of the test tubes. "But we should probably get on with the experiment, or Petrikov will be pissed."

Bonnibel nodded and reached out for the bottle of hydrochloric acid. "Yes, we must do the work now. Jake, can you write down a clear method while Finn and I get everything set up?"

Before complying, Jake looked over to Finn and grinned at him, and Bonnie tried not to spend as much time as she usually would attempting to decipher it. Instead, she tried to focus on her lunchtime meeting with Marceline, only sparing the odd lurch in her stomach a few thoughts before focusing on her work.

* * *

Bonnibel shifted when she heard the classroom door open, the familiar creak of wood, rusting hinges and the small _click_ of the handle being pushed down. She felt her stomach twist and turn and she squirmed uncomfortably; that wasn't a feeling she liked, but it had been happening a lot lately. Still, instead of looking up at the intruder, she kept her gaze glued to her book. She was reading a very interesting chapter about atoms and she didn't want to be disturbed by some random person coming in to talk to Mr Petrikov, who spent his lunchtimes in the teacher's lounge.

"Hey."

When she placed the voice, Bonnie's stomach jumped and performed a terribly uncoordinated backflip. "Marceline."

She'd actually come. Bonnie was overjoyed, but she told herself to keep her excitement contained; she'd been told that coming on too strong had freaked some people out before, and she didn't want to ruin things again. Even if in her mind, it was inevitable.

"Bonnibel," Marceline closed the classroom door and flashed her a smile, unfazed when Bonnibel didn't look up. "How are you?"

"I am fantastic now that I have you here." The sentence came out rushed and Bonnibel's face stained red. "I was very nervous because I was not sure if you would show up but you have so I am happy."

"That's cute." Marceline sat down in the chair next to her and Bonnibel began rifling around in her backpack. "I'm good too. What're you looking for?"

"It is against lab policy to not wear safety goggles, especially when there are chemicals around because some may get in your eyes and hurt you, and I don't want that to happen because you have very pretty eyes." Bonnibel held out her spare pair of safety goggles. She couldn't stand using the ones school provided; they were painful and she hated the feel of them against her skin.

Marceline blinked at her, but took the safety goggles and put them on. "Did you just tell me that I have pretty eyes?"

"Yes," Bonnibel was completely unembarrassed, "They are green and green is the rarest eye colour and I like them very much. Of course you are pretty in general too, but your eyes are my favourite part because they are green."

Marceline considered this for a moment and then sent her one of those weird smiles again. "Alright then. Thanks for the compliment. You have pretty eyes too."

Bonnie paused in her current task of plugging a Bunsen burner into one of the gas taps. "You think I have pretty eyes? Mine are not green."

"No, but they're still pretty. Blue eyes are pretty. All eye colours are pretty." Marceline told her. Bonnibel went to talk about how not all eye colours were rare like Marceline's, but her friend spoke again and Bonnie stopped herself. "What're you setting that up for?"

"I would like to show you something fascinating. Sometimes when chemical elements are heated up, they make a different colour under the flame and they are beautiful." Bonnibel skirted around the table to grab the different elements that she'd already set aside. "The school supply is very limited with these kinds of elements, so I can only show you potassium, sodium, lithium and magnesium. There are many more that can produce beautiful colours, however."

"Alright," Marceline nodded and watched as Bonnie organised everything, "Do you need my help in setting it up?"

"No, I am probably more able than you are as I am the top in school at science." Bonnibel passively responded as she set things up. She saw something that looked vaguely sad cross Marceline's face, but she couldn't comprehend it.

She was about to timidly apologise, but Marceline laughed. It was a soft laugh, and Bonnie wasn't sure what was so amusing about her science work. "You're probably right. I might blow something up. Musicians probably shouldn't mess with chemical elements."

Bonnibel nodded as she lit the Bunsen burner. "Yes, lab safety is very important." As though that reminded her of something, Bonnibel dropped a hair tie that she'd been keeping around her wrist on the desk in front of Marceline before scratching at the little indents it had left on her skin. She didn't like the feeling of it at all. "You must tie your hair back. It is important because I would like this lunch meeting to go perfectly and I don't want you to get hurt because then you will blame me and not want to see me anymore and I do not want that to happen because I like you."

Bonnibel sat back down on her seat and stared at the flame on the Bunsen burner. She flapped her hands nervously and tried to ignore the odd squirming in her stomach as Marceline picked up the hair tie.

Before tying her hair back, Marceline looked over at Bonnie and sent her a different kind of smile to the usual ones; it was softer, more reserved and fuzzy around the edges. "Hey, it's okay. You don't need to worry about that. I'll tie my hair back and nothing bad will happen. I wouldn't blame you if it did, anyway."

"Really? Because Finn and Jake mentioned that you like messing with people and if you are being sarcastic then I am-" Bonnie cut herself off and shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut tightly. "You frighten me."

Worriedly, Marceline backed up. She shifted to a few seats to her left, putting a good amount of distance between herself and Bonnie. "Bonnie, look at me."

Bonnie cringed at the nickname and forced herself to look up, shifting uncomfortably. She focused all of her brainpower on Marceline's beautiful green eyes, but eye contact really wasn't her strong suit and usually ended up in her looking at something reflected in the other person's eyes to comfort herself.

Marceline spoke slowly and carefully, her tone soft and reassuring. "I'm going to promise you right now that I'm not making fun of you or messing with you. Sure, I do that at times, but it's only when I have an audience, and I don't mean it in a bad way. I don't want to frighten you. I wouldn't do that kind of thing to you, because I know that you need security and patience, and I'm going to give you that. Okay?"

Unable to deal with the eye contact any longer, Bonnibel looked back towards the Bunsen burner and nodded. "Yes. Okay."

"Good," Marceline quickly reached behind her and tied her hair back. "I want you to stop worrying about what I think, because the only things that come to mind when I think about you are positive things. That isn't going to change. Now, go ahead and show me the thing you wanted to show me."

Bonnie nodded quickly and reached forwards to grab the first element on the little pair of tweezers she'd gotten. "Okay, so we have sodium here and when I put it under the flame it will produce a bright yellow flame like this," Bonnie stuck it under the flame and smiled to herself when it turned yellow. "I do not have any elements here that will create a green colour, and that is sad because after pink, green is my favourite colour."

Marceline frowned and moved back to where she was sat before she'd given Bonnie some space. "Do you have any that'll make it pink?"

"All I have here is potassium, sodium – which I just showed you – lithium and magnesium. Lithium makes it red, which is close to pink, and magnesium makes it bright white. The closest to pink is potassium, which is a very beautiful colour." Bonnibel grabbed a new set of tweezers and demonstrated it for Marceline. "I like this one the best since it is somewhere between purple and red, but not entirely pink. Thallium would make a green flame, which is also pretty like your eyes."

Marceline smiled at her. "What about a blue flame? What would make that?"

"Selenium is one element that makes a blue flame." Bonnibel didn't even have to think about her response, and Marceline was impressed. "Indium and lead do too."

"See, I didn't even know that selenium or indium were chemical elements. I've never heard of them in my life." Marceline laughed. "You're really smart, Bonnie. Like, _genius_ level smart."

"Thank you." Bonnibel felt her face heat up and her stomach squirm again. Jumping topics quickly, she murmured, "Nicknames make me uncomfortable. I do not like it when people switch between Bonnibel and Bonnie at random because it is not orderly."

"Shall I just stick with one then?" Marceline asked her. "Like I said, I want you to be comfortable."

Bonnie nodded in reply. "Yes. You are very considerate and respect my routines. I am sorry that I am awkward to talk to or if I say something that upsets you at any point."

"You're not awkward." Marceline quickly assured her and stretched, looking over at the clock. "Well, I have ten minutes until my next lesson, so I should probably split. Got to eat my lunch and I'm guessing that eating in here is against lab rules, right?"

"Split?" Bonnibel blinked at her in confusion. "And yes, eating in the lab is very unsafe. Your food may become contaminated and you may ingest a toxic chemical."

"Split means that I should go, since I need to eat my lunch quickly before my next class." Marceline explained. She waited until Bonnibel switched the Bunsen burner off to untie her hair and pass her safety goggles back, and then she stood up and stretched. "I'll see you on Tuesday. Okay?"

"Yes, Tuesday." Bonnie nodded quickly and fiddled with the braid she'd put her hair in that morning. "Goodbye."

"Later, Bonnie," Marceline flashed her one last toothy grin as she turned on her heels and waltzed out the door, as confident as ever.

As Bonnibel turned back to the table to look at the discarded safety goggles and hair tie, she decided that she really didn't like seeing Marceline walk away from her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Ash and Keila.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning - ableist slur

"Poetry is one of the many things we use to express ourselves and our feelings," her English teacher skirted around the desks and quickly handed out sheets of paper, "but these things can be interpreted differently by different people. I'm going to put you in pairs and you'll feedback to the class what you interpreted from this poem that I'm passing around."

English class was Bonnibel's least favourite lesson, with gym class following closely behind. Although she disliked both for different reasons, English was her least favourite because it wasn't one of her natural talents. Her teacher would talk about how there was symbolism beneath every little thing and Bonnibel struggled to identify it; she was unsure how her classmates managed to get things like sorrow from a blue carpet. Foreshadowing was a whole other nightmare.

But her not being a natural talent wasn't the only thing she hated about it. No, she hated how the teacher always seemed to put them in pairs and always put her with the exact same person.

Normally, she'd like that kind of order, if she got along with whoever she was partnered with. Except she didn't. He was one of the mean people, the ones who called her weird names and said things to confuse her. And every time she'd complained to the teacher, he'd told her to keep her head down and deal with it.

Of _course_ , and completely unsurprisingly, when her teacher came to her name in the roll call he looked over to her and said, "Bonnibel. You're working with Ash."

She let out a soft sigh and shuffled on her seat awkwardly. He'd already moved on to announcing the next pair, but she didn't care about that. "I do not want to work with him."

Mr Lich spun on his heels and sent her a look that teachers probably weren't allowed to give their students. "Bonnibel, don't argue with me. I'm the one who is in control of the partners and your parents have stated multiple times that you're obsessed with regularity. You're working with Ash and that's final."

"I am not arguing with you." Bonnibel quietly replied. "All I did was say that I did not want to work with Ash. He is mean to me."

Mr Lich let out a heavy sigh and a few of her peers snickered. Although Bonnibel couldn't tell, that was what he did when he was tired of dealing with someone. "You have to, and that's the end of it."

She shook her head quickly and began flapping her hands; cue the laughter from her classmates. "I do not want to. I do not like him and he is mean to me on purpose because he knows that I am autistic and that I do not like to be poked or spoken to in a figurative manner and he does these things intentionally to make me go into sensory overload and sensory overload is the most horrible thing in the world." Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut and began rocking herself in an effort to relax. "I am uncomfortable because I do not want to work with him."

"Yeah, well," Ash sunk down in the seat next to her, and dropped his voice to a whisper to mimic her in an overly robotic tone, "I do not want to work with you because you are stupid and do not know how to do the simple work Mr Lich gives you."

Bonnie shook her head again. "I am not stupid."

"Yeah? Learn how to fucking talk normally then." Ash purposely brushed against her as he reached forwards to grab the poem. "You're a stupid freak and everyone knows it. Why do you think you have no friends?" The next thing was under his breath, but she still caught it; he probably meant for her to hear. "Fucking retard."

Intentionally, Ash bumped against her again and she shuffled so far to the right that she was nearly falling off her chair. She shook her head at the sound of the 'r' word, the way it seemed to hurt her more than anything else she'd been called before, the way it broke her down into tiny little pieces until she couldn't function anymore, her heart overcompensating and her breath coming out in short, frantic bursts.

Bonnibel's words were coming out more and more panicked than they were previously, each sentence rushed and tangling together. She hated the 'r' word and what it did to her. "Do not call me that. I am not stupid. I am the top at school in science and mathematics and I am going to be a doctor one day and win the Nobel Prize. I do have friends. Marceline is my friend because Finn and Jake said so. Marceline said that I am going to win the Nobel Prize one day and she knows that I am not stupid because she thinks that I am a genius and she is right and she is so wonderful."

That last part was mainly just her reassuring herself, and surprisingly it worked. She liked thinking about Marceline for some reason. It made her feel things she'd never felt before, because Marceline really was magnificent in Bonnie's eyes.

But her reassurance didn't last for long. Ash was smiling at her, and she was certain that it wasn't in a good way. The laugh that followed wasn't positive either. It was frightening.

"Marceline?" He laughed again and she frowned. What was so funny about Marceline? "Man, that's fucking hilarious."

"I did not tell a joke." Bonnibel picked at a thread that was sticking out on her dress. "I do not understand what is so amusing."

Something flashed in Ash's eyes, but it was too quick and too complicated for Bonnie to decipher. "She's really got you fooled, doesn't she? You know, I didn't give her enough credit. I didn't think she could pull it off. I guess you really _are_ as stupid as I thought. I bet you've only got two brain cells up there, don't you?"

He knocked on her head of emphasis and she began flapping her hands again. "I do not understand. Please do not touch me without my permission because I do not like it and it feels very horrible as I am very sensitive to touch and can only handle it on my terms and if I trust a person and I do not trust you because you are mean."

Ash laughed again, but she knew that it was a mean laugh. "Marceline isn't your friend, you fucking idiot. She's my girlfriend and we both thought it'd be fun to see how long it'd take to fool you. Apparently it doesn't take very long."

Bonnibel shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. "No, she is my friend because Finn and Jake said that she is. She comes to visit me on Tuesdays and Thursdays and it is Tuesday today so she is going to be visiting me and we are going to do an experiment because she lets me talk about my interests and she is very amazing and she would not lie to me because she promised me that she would not lie."

Ash rolled his eyes. "Yeah? Well she was lying. I can't believe how dumb you are. Why would she want to be friends with _you_? Ever think about that, _genius_?"

Bonnibel wiped at her eyes and shook her head much more rapidly than before. "I am confused and I do not- I-"

A soft, female voice gave her something to focus on. "Hey. Are you alright?"

At the sound of the voice, Bonnie frowned in confusion and looked down at her lap. She kept her mouth shut, because she knew that they wouldn't be talking to her. Nobody talked to her.

"Is he bothering you?"

It was the same voice, and Bonnie nodded just in case the question was directed at her. She reached a hand up to wipe at her eyes again, and squeezed them shut in an attempt to stop herself from crying. Her head was a mess, cluttered and disorganised, and she was so _confused_.

The voice turned darker then, angrier and scary. "Ash, stop being a fucking dick. You go work with Guy. I'll stay here."

Out of her peripheral vision, Bonnie saw Ash shake his head. "I'm fine right here, actually."

The female voice started again. "Get up or I'll fucking make you. Don't think I'm not telling Marceline about this. _God_ , I'm so happy she dumped your sorry ass. Get _up_."

Bonnibel felt relief when he stood up and pushed past the girl who had been talking. Expecting to be left alone, Bonnie looked up from her lap and fiddled with her pen, surprised when someone else filled the space Ash had just vacated.

"Hey. I'm really sorry about him." The girl flashed her a smile when Bonnie glanced up for a split second to see if she recognised her; she didn't. "Ash is such a jerk. I'm Keila and I'll be your partner from now on."

Bonnie shuffled uncomfortably. "I do not know you."

She caught Keila's reassuring smile. "It's okay, I'm a friend of Marceline's. She's told me about you."

"He said that she was lying and pretending to be my friend." Bonnie sniffled and latched onto the topic of Marceline. "Is that true? I do not want it to be true because I really think that she is lovely and I very much like spending lots of time with her because she lets me talk about science and listens and engages with me."

"Ash was lying to you. He isn't dating Marceline – she broke up with him a few months ago – and I can promise you that Marceline is your friend. She really cares about you, Bonnibel. And don't worry, she's still coming to visit you today like usual." Keila slowly explained. She glanced down at her phone and then slid it across the table to Bonnibel. "Look, this is what she said to me about you a few weeks ago when she first went to spend some time with you."

_**Keila (2:00PM): Hey, how'd your lunch thing go?** _

_**Marceline (2:01PM): Great, actually. I kind of figured it might be a little awkward (like maybe she wouldn't want to talk to me or something) but then turns out it was cool. I actually learned a few things about science, believe it or not.** _

_**Keila (2:01PM): Sounds like it was a success. And even though I know you better than anyone, I still need to ask if you're being genuine. A few people (the guys, to name some) like messing with her and making her confused because she's different like you said before and I hope you're not taking a leaf out of their books.** _

_**Marceline (2:02PM): Please, Keila. Of course I'm not.** _

_**Marceline (2:02PM): I like her. She's sweet and she's really smart and I really liked hanging with her. I just want her to stop thinking that I'm only pretending. It really pisses me off that people have done that to her in the past.** _

Bonnibel blinked down at the screen and flashed a watery smile. "She is wonderful. I am glad that she said these things because now I have proof that Ash was lying to me so I do not have to be afraid that she may just be making fun of me."

Keila took her phone back and nodded. "Yup. And just a hint, I'm sure she'd say yes if you asked her to see you more often, like outside of school. Maybe on weekends."

"I do my homework on a weekend." Bonnibel was quick to reply. "I cannot ruin my schedule because my schedules and routines are important to me and they help me structure the week."

Keila laughed, and Bonnie wasn't sure what she was laughing at. Had she said something wrong? "Alright then. I'm sure you two will work something out. Do you want to start annotating this poem? I'll do the feedback and help you along with the things you don't get."

Bonnibel nodded in confirmation. "Yes, I would like that very much."

* * *

"Bonnie." Marceline closed the lab door behind her and crossed over to Bonnibel, who was hunched over a notepad in her usual seat. "Keila told me about what happened with dickhead – oops, I mean, _Ash_. Are you okay?"

Bonnibel nodded to herself as Marceline sat down. "I am alright. Your concern is very sweet but Keila made me feel better because she showed me proof that you are genuine and I am trying to no longer be worried. She also told me that I should see you on a weekend but I am not sure about this because it could ruin my routine."

"The last thing I want to do is ruin your routine." Marceline smiled at her in that weirdly amazing way she usually did. "So, what's the plan for this lunchtime? Got any cool experiments you need a fabulous assistant for?"

"No. I am unsure as to what we can do." Bonnibel tapped her pen on the table. "I did not have time to plan an experiment as I have not had any free periods today and that is usually the time I use to plan and conduct things."

"We could go for a walk?" Softly, Marceline laughed when she saw Bonnibel cringe. "Nowhere loud. I know a quiet place we can sit."

"I like quiet places." Bonnibel murmured. "Yes. I would like you to take me to your quiet place because I would like you to tell me about yourself because I always talk about my interests and I would like to talk about yours since you are my friend and that is what friends do."

"Okay, I guess we could do that. I'm not very interesting, though." Marceline stood up and nodded towards the door. "Let's go."

At the prompt, Bonnie stood up and followed Marceline towards the door. She kept a distance between herself and her friend as they walked through school, dodging as many people as she could.

Naturally, Bonnie relaxed once Marceline led her around the back of a building and sat down on the grass. She mimicked her friend's actions and sat down, keeping her hands firmly on her lap in case she was pricked by the tiny blades of grass.

"Okay, you want to know about me?" Marceline leaned against the wall of the building. "Go ahead. Ask whatever you like."

Bonnie fiddled with her fingers. "Um- do you play lots of music?"

"Yep," Marceline nodded, popping the 'p'. "I do. I play lots of instruments too."

"That is very interesting. I have heard that music is very mathematical and formulaic. I would like to know about some of the formulas but I do not have much talent in the case of practical music as I cannot play any instruments." Bonnibel rambled. She saw Marceline smile and her stomach jumped. "Why do you make me feel like that?"

Marceline's smile immediately twisted into a frown. "Feel like what?"

"Odd. My stomach feels odd." Bonnibel rubbed her abdomen for emphasis. "Although, did you know that your stomach is actually higher up that most people say? Most people assume that it is in the lower abdomen, but it is actually slightly higher than that because that is where the intestines are."

"Do you know _everything_?" Marceline's laugh was light and Bonnibel showed a shy smile. "I'm pretty sure you have every single little fact about the universe up in your head. I'm actually kind of jealous of how smart you are."

"I wish more people believed that I am intelligent. You know, my mother always tells me that I am going to go far, but I do not plan on moving away." Bonnie unabashedly laughed at her own joke and beamed when Marceline did too. "You understood my joke. Usually people think I am being serious and look at me funnily."

Marceline shook her head. "Nah, I could tell you were joking. Maybe that's just because I have prior friend-knowledge, though."

Bonnie nodded in agreement. "Possibly."

"And Bonnie?" Marceline quickly grabbed her attention. "You have a really pretty laugh."

It happened again; Bonnie's stomach clenched and flipped upside down in a weirdly wonderful way. "Thank you. You are also very pretty but I do not like saying this as I am worried that you will think I am strange for thinking about how pretty you are." Before Marceline could thank her, Bonnie jumped topics again. "I like your friend Keila. Will she be my friend too? How long have you known her? I wish that I had a friend like that because I want someone who likes me special and does things with me."

"I'm sure Keila would be your friend if you asked." Marceline replied. "We've known each other since we were tiny. I can't remember how old we were when we met. And you have a friend, Bonnie."

"I do? I was not aware of this." Bonnie kneaded her thighs through the material of her dress. "My mother tells me that Lady is my friend but we do not talk to one another that often and she always ruins my routines and interrupts me."

Marceline's smile was so soft and gentle that it made Bonnibel smile back as if it was some sort of automatic function. "I'm your friend."

Bonnie nodded and managed to maintain eye contact for a few moments before glancing back towards her feet. "Yes. I am happy that you have said that because I was not sure if we were just acquaintances as you seem like you have lots of friends but Finn and Jake told me that I could be your friend and that you already were my friend but I was unsure because you had not said it."

"Why wouldn't I be your friend?" Marceline raised an eyebrow and spoke before Bonnibel could attempt to respond to the rhetorical question. "You're kind, funny, smart. You have so many awesome things going for you that you don't even notice. I like being your friend."

Bonnie felt her face heat up and she shuffled uncomfortably. "I like being friends with you too because you are very patient and you listen to me and let me talk about science when most people just like to make fun of me like Ash and you are not like him and I do not understand why he was your boyfriend because you are so much better than him."

Marceline shrugged. "I was like him. At one point."

"But you are not." Bonnie was quick to correct her. "You are very amazing and he is mean and horrible and a jerk and I do not like jerks."

Marceline sighed. "Yeah… I don't know, Bonnie. Things change. I realised that I was being a jerk, but he hasn't. I doubt he ever will."

"I am glad that you are no longer a jerk." Bonnie shuffled closer to Marceline; not close enough so that they were touching, but close enough to show that she was becoming more comfortable with her friend. "You are my favourite person at school. I am glad that you are here with me because you make me feel comfortable. I would like you to meet my mother."

"You do?" Marceline hummed in thought. "Okay. Pick a day after school and I'll come and meet your mom."

"I will ask her when you can come over for dinner because then you can come to my house and we can watch science documentaries together." Bonnibel replied eagerly. She was getting excited at the thought. "It will be so much fun and I am looking forward to it already."

"Me too." Marceline grinned at her. "I'd love to watch science documentaries with you, Bonnie. Maybe I'll bring my guitar and play some music for you."

Bonnibel nodded in enthusiasm. "Yes, I would like that a lot. I bet that you are really good at playing music. Will you play some Ed Sheeran? I like Ed Sheeran because his music is relaxing and lots of music nowadays is loud and I do not like loudness."

Marceline hummed in affirmative. "Okay, sure. What's your favourite song by him? I'll learn it."

"Kiss Me." Bonnibel fiddled with her fingers. "Kiss Me is my favourite. I would like you to play that for me."

"Alright, deal." Marceline pulled her phone from her pocket and nodded down to it. "Can I get your phone number? That way I can annoy you more often."

"You do not annoy me. I enjoy spending time with you." Bonnie dug around in her pink backpack before finally producing her phone. "Here. I have my phone number memorised so I can type it into your phone and then you will be able to call me."

Marceline handed her the phone and watched as she quickly typed her number in and passed it back. She called Bonnie's number immediately and watched as her friend sorted out her contact details.

Bonnie held her phone up and blinked at her. "Smile."

Marceline did the opposite. "Why?"

"It is for your contact photo. Everyone must have a contact photograph and an emoji next to their name so that my contacts are ordered." Bonnibel drummed her fingers against her lap expectantly. "I would like you to smile because you have a pretty smile and I want you to have a pretty contact picture."

Marceline smiled in that fuzzy way she reserved only for Bonnie, and her friend snapped the photograph for her and smiled down at the screen. "Was it okay?"

Bonnie nodded. "It is beautiful. You are very photogenic, Marceline. I would like to take a photograph with you."

"Okay. Selfies with you sound fun." Marceline shuffled across the grass and moved closer to Bonnie, but still kept her distance.

It was Bonnibel who moved close enough to her that they were almost touching. Almost. Bonnie wasn't ready for that yet.

She snapped the photo and smiled down at it, nodding to herself. "Yes, I like this one. I have decided that I am going to be using this as your contact picture."

"Send it to me." Marceline said, tapping around on her phone. "I want to put it on Facebook."

Bonnibel frowned, and although she did as Marceline said, she wasn't sure why she was putting it on Facebook for all of her friends to see. Lady never broadcasted the fact that she'd known Bonnibel since they were little. Nobody wanted to be associated with her, and that was what Bonnibel was used to. This was alien.

Out of curiosity, Bonnie leaned forwards and watched as Marceline attached the image to a status update. "Why are you uploading it to Facebook? Your friends may see."

"I want my friends to see. I take pictures with them all the time, and you're my friend too so it makes sense to have a picture with you. I want everyone to know that you're my friend." Marceline explained to her. "Do you have an account? I can tag you in it."

Bonnibel shook her head. "No, I did not have much use for social networking considering I did not have anyone to add as a friend aside from my mother. But I could make one."

"Alright," Marceline paused and nodded to her, "Go ahead and make one. Add me and I'll tag you in it."

Bonnibel quickly downloaded the app onto her phone and made her way through the steps to creating an account; they were all direct and easy to follow, which she appreciated. She faltered when selecting a profile photo as she didn't have many pictures of herself, eventually settling on the one she'd just taken with Marceline. Then, she searched up her mother and added her as a friend.

"Marceline," Bonnibel frowned down at the screen, "I do not know your last name. How am I supposed to find you on this app?"

"It's Abadeer." Marceline quickly replied, "But it should come up before you type that in anyway. Not many people are called Marceline."

Bonnie found Marceline's profile successfully and added her as a friend, a request Marceline accepted a few moments later. She scrolled through Marceline's page, surprised when she saw that she had a total of 1,200 friends listed. "You have lots of friends. They may stop being your friend if they know that you like me because they think that I am weird like Ash thinks I am weird. He called me the 'r' word today and I hate being called the 'r' word more than anything else in the world."

"If they stop being my friend because of you, then they obviously aren't good people and I shouldn't be friends with them anyway." Marceline folded her arms across her chest and shrugged. "And Ash is a dick, Bonnie. Don't listen to a word he says because you're ten times better than him."

Bonnibel's cheeks flushed a bright red and she nodded. "Yes. I am better. I am going to win the Nobel Prize one day and I am smarter than him."

"Exactly." Marceline smiled encouragingly. "So much better. I posted our picture, by the way. You can like it if you want."

Bonnibel nodded and scrolled upwards on Marceline's page, allowing it to refresh before she found the post and liked it. "Thank you for posting it with a lovely caption. You love hanging out with me?"

"Of course I do." Marceline said that like it was the most obvious thing in the world. To others, it might've been, but Bonnie found it hard to tell when someone was bored with her or uninterested. "Why do you think I want other people to know? They'll get jealous because I'm having such a good time with you and they're not."

Bonnie beamed. "Other people have liked our picture together. And I have two friend requests. I like social networking. I feel included and I like feeling included because it makes me feel like I am normal."

"You're not abnormal, if that's what you're implying." Marceline replied, leaving Bonnie unsure as to how she'd come to that conclusion. "Being normal isn't really a real thing. Nobody's normal. Everybody is different in some way, whether it's a subtle difference or a not-so-subtle one. Just because you don't pick up on social cues and think differently to some people, doesn't mean that you're some sort of alien from another planet. We're all humans, and inevitably we're different from one another. It's just…nature."

"Nature." Bonnie fiddled with her fingernails. "Yes, I like this explanation. I am aware that autism is a disorder and that I am the minority. But I am still human just like everyone else."

"Exactly." Marceline nodded at her, twisting her wrist upwards to check the time. "We should go. You don't want to be late for class, do you?"

Bonnibel shook her head and followed Marceline on the way back inside the school building and towards her next classroom. Even though Marceline wasn't in the class with her, she walked her all the way to the classroom door until she left.

Bonnie spent the rest of her school day with a smile on her face.


	5. Chapter 5

Bonnibel nervously fiddled with her fingers as she approached the dinner table. "Um, mom? This is my friend. Her name is Marceline and she is very sweet."

Marceline flashed her a smile. "Nah, you're the sweet one." Bonnie flushed red as Marceline turned to address her mother. "Hi, Mrs Butler. Nice to meet you."

"So _you're_ the famous Marceline," Her mother smiled, "Bonnibel has told me lovely things about you. Dinner is set out on the table so you can help yourself all you like."

If it was possible, Bonnie blushed even more. "Do not tell her that I talk about her. She will think that I am weird and I do not want her to think that I am weird for talking about her."

Marceline just laughed and sent her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about that, Bonnie. I don't think you're weird. It's good to know you like me enough to talk about me with your mom."

Bonnie nodded and sat down in her usual space at the dinner table. She patted the one next to her and managed to hold eye contact with Marceline for a few moments before looking down at the table. "I would like you to sit down next to me."

Marceline complied and took the seat next to her. She sent Bonnie a toothy grin when she noticed that the blonde was flapping her hands in front of herself nervously. "Hey, it's okay. Try not to overthink things, Bonnie. Nothing is going to go wrong."

Bonnie felt her mother's gaze on her and she shifted uncomfortably, nodding her head up and down. "Nothing is going to go wrong." She repeated and continued to flap her hands in front of her. "Stimming helps me calm myself down. That is why I flap my hands. It helps me stop thinking about bad things and I am less likely to go into sensory overload. However, other people find it funny when I stim because they make fun of me for showing symptoms and I do not like this."

"I read about sensory overload." Marceline showed a weird, almost sympathetic look. "It sounds like it sucks."

"It is the most horrible thing in the whole entire world." Bonnie fidgeted, blinking down at the table. "I do not like to talk about it."

Marceline nodded. "Okay. Tell me about your favourite thing in chemistry."

"My favourite thing in chemistry is the subject itself because it is so interesting and there are so many topics that you can study. I really like chemical equations and working out the very complicated ones because nobody else can do them as fast as I can." Bonnie got all of that out in one breath. "I am the best in school at science." She looked over to her mother for reinforcement. "Aren't I?"

"Of course you are, honey," Her mother smiled, "Don't forget all of the postcards home we've gotten for good work. You've had lots from the mathematics department, too."

"Yes, I am also the best at mathematics." Bonnibel turned to Marceline and nodded enthusiastically. "I bet that you are the best at music. Is that correct?"

"I mean… I guess so," Marceline shrugged and let out an awkward laugh, "Keila's really good too, though."

"You are very amazing." Bonnibel shifted and addressed her mother, "Marceline is very talented. She plays lots of musical instruments and she promised that she was going to play music for me and possibly teach me some music theory as it is very mathematical and formulaic. She makes me very happy."

"I can see that." Her mother looked more at Marceline than Bonnie as she responded. "Bonnibel has told me that you come and visit her regularly?"

Bonnie answered before Marceline could. "Yes, she comes to visit me every Tuesday and Thursday and we do experiments and she listens to me and makes me feel comfortable."

"Yeah, Bonnie teaches me all sorts about science. I think I've learned more from her than I have from the past three years of high school." Marceline turned to look at her with a smile. "You're really smart. Somehow you make science not so horrible."

"I still do not understand how you dislike science. Science is in everything." Bonnibel paused and searched for an example in her mind. "If we did not have science, you would have not been able to post that picture of us together on your Facebook account. Without science I would not have been able to access the internet to make an account so you could tag me in it."

Marceline just smiled. "I guess you've got me there."

"Yes," Bonnie nodded to herself, "I am glad that I make science interesting for you. I have not done that for anyone before."

Her mother spoke before she could continue. "What kind of music do you play?"

"All sorts, really," Marceline shrugged, "I think my favourite instrument to play is probably bass guitar, but I play a lot more. I don't particularly have a favourite genre, though. Maybe rock."

Bonnibel blinked at her. "Can you show me your bass guitar one day?"

"Yeah, of course," Marceline beamed at her, "All you have to do if you want something from me is ask, Bonnie."

"Well, it's good to know that you're genuine, from what I can see," Bonnie's mother spoke before she could ask a question about her music, "Bonnibel has had people use her in the past, and I don't want her to go through that again. Phoebe-"

"I do not want to think about her," Bonnibel quickly interrupted, "Please do not mention her."

She caught and acknowledged her mother's apology, but spent the rest of dinner trying to get _her_ out of her head.

* * *

"I am very glad that you are here." Bonnibel blinked down at her feet and patted the spot next to her on her bed. "My mother seemed to like you very much, although I could not tell very well as I am not able to read body language, but she was smiling lots and I do not think that she would smile in a mean way. Would you like to watch a science documentary now?"

"That's good to hear." Marceline sat down on her bed, being careful not to brush against her accidentally. Bonnie appreciated that. "That sounds like fun. Your mom seems really cool. Does she take you home from school and stuff?"

"Yes, she picks me up so I do not have to use the school bus because the school bus is very loud and cramped and I do not like loud and cramped environments as I have mentioned before." Bonnie was quick to explain. "My younger brother Neddy finishes school half an hour before me so I am never home alone even if my mother must work late. He used to look after me before."

Marceline frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

"Before." Bonnie flapped her hands in front of her and sucked in a deep breath. "I was worse before. I used to be hard for my mother to handle when I was younger and my brother was never allowed to have his friends over because I would get bad around people I did not know and that is why I used to go to a different school for people like me but they did not offer advanced placement courses and the normal high school level science and mathematics courses were far too easy so I left there. That school was very good for me because I am able to control my symptoms better now and I do not lash out. I have learned to be independent."

Marceline flashed her a smile and her stomach squirmed. "That's cool. Do you not like our school?"

"I like the lesson times and I like Tuesday and Thursday break times because I have you now. But before I had you I did not like break times because I was always alone and I do not like being alone all the time." Bonnibel's face flushed red. "You make school better."

Marceline beamed. "Really? That's awesome. Why do you like hanging around in the science labs so much?"

Bonnibel shifted uncomfortably and reached out a hand, before deciding against her decision. She wasn't brave enough to do that just yet. "Mr Petrikov allows me to conduct experiments and it is quiet in there because nobody else sits there aside from me. There are no mean people either and I like being away from mean people. I do not like being called the 'r' word or 'stupid' or 'freak' because I am not those things. I am highly intelligent and I am better than those people because I am nice and even though I cannot hold conversation as well as most people I do not call others mean names."

"You're better than them for definite. You're awesome." Marceline assured her. "You're one of my favourite people and I hate that the douchebags at our school don't see how amazing you are."

Bonnie felt her diaphragm flutter and her cheeks stained red. She stared down at Marceline's hand and nodded. "Yes. I want to enter the school science fair but I am afraid that when I win everyone will think that I am just getting special treatment for being autistic. Everyone always thinks that when I win things and they hate me even more for it."

"Nobody hates you." Marceline was quick to shoot that down. "Some people at our school are just too dumb to see how smart you are, Bonnie. You should enter the science fair, and I'll go and be right by your side when you win. Okay?"

Bonnibel nodded and sucked in a deep breath. She stared down at Marceline's hand and then carefully rested her own on top of it. She glanced up quickly to gauge out Marceline's reaction, and all she saw was a look of surprise, which took her a few moments to decipher.

Unsure as to whether it was a good look or a bad one, Bonnie retracted her hand and kept it on her lap. "I am sorry."

Marceline's face sunk into a frown. "Why? You didn't do anything bad."

"I did not mean to overstep any of your boundaries and I was unsure if you would like me to touch you because I know that I do not like contact unless it is on my terms and I cannot tell by your body language if you are uncomfortable or not." Bonnibel rambled. "I did not mean to make you uncomfortable if I did because you are my friend and you make me happy and I want to do the same thing for you and make you happy."

"Hey, calm down," Marceline shushed her, "you didn't make me uncomfortable. I was just surprised because I thought you didn't like contact at all and I didn't expect it. You can hold my hand if you want."

Bonnibel blinked down at her feet and nodded. She carefully reached across and came in contact with Marceline's hand again. Fingers touched apprehensively and then knotted together firmly, and Bonnie shifted as she stared down at their interlocked hands.

She felt weird. That odd feeling she found impossible to decipher was bubbling at the pit of her stomach, all because she started holding Marceline's hand. Bonnie knew that she was sensitive to touch and certain textures in particular – it'd been that way her whole life – but this was different. Usually when something touched her that she didn't like, it felt like the area that was being touched was on fire, like her skin was burning and she needed to do anything she could to get away.

But this was different. This definitely didn't feel like that; if it did, Bonnie would have pulled away quickly. It felt nice. Like someone had switched on a heater inside her chest and it was filling her with this beautiful warmth that she absolutely adored.

"You make me content." Bonnie managed to hold eye contact with Marceline for a few moments and then fiddled with the hem of her t shirt with her free hand. "Thank you for being my friend and keeping me company because I like spending time with you."

"It should be me thanking you." Marceline squeezed her hand gently and Bonnie felt that jump in her stomach. "Thanks for inviting me over and letting me be your friend. You could've easily told me that you didn't want to chill with me but you do. And that's really cool."

"You are very interesting." Bonnie stared down at their hands again. "Why do I not feel bad when I hold your hand? If somebody else held my hand I would have to push them away. Unless it was my mother."

"Because you're comfortable with me. It doesn't feel bad because it's on your terms." Marceline guessed. "You were the one that initiated the contact and you know I wouldn't do anything bad, or anything that'd make you uncomfortable."

Bonnie nodded. "Yes. That makes sense. You make sense. Would you like to watch part of a science documentary now? I do not know what time you need to be home but I need to go in the bath at nine and then go to bed at ten and I do not want my schedule to be disrupted because that is what I usually do on a night."

Marceline hummed in thought. "Yeah, alright. Put one about space on. That kind of stuff is interesting."

"Yes, I like learning about space. Although I like physics, I prefer chemistry because it allows me to do more practical work and I like doing experiments. My mother bought me my own microscope for my seventeenth birthday and it is my favourite thing in the world." Bonnibel rambled. She stared down at their hands again and then pulled away, standing up and heading over to her alphabetised DVD shelf. "I will let you use my microscope one day because it is very interesting to see things underneath it and look at stuff you cannot see with the naked eye."

"Yeah," Marceline leaned back against Bonnie's bed, "that sounds cool."

"You should come here again next week and we can do an experiment and I will let you look at things under slides on my microscope." Bonnie kneeled down to put her DVD into the player. She'd picked out an interesting one about space that she'd seen a few times. "I think that it will be very fun and you may learn something."

"Sure," Marceline flashed her a grin, "it's a date."


	6. Chapter 6

Bonnibel waited patiently outside the door, the package held firmly in her hand. She rocked backwards and forwards on her heels, one of her happy stims, and waited until she heard the sound of a key turning in a lock.

But then a boy answered the door.

"Uh… hello?" He frowned at her, as though he was uncertain as to why she was there. In fact, this wasn't really a planned interaction – her mother had told her that spontaneity was seen as attractive, and while she wasn't certain why her mother was telling her how to attract someone, she decided she'd take her advice.

"Hello." Bonnibel continued rocking on her heels. "I am here to see Marceline. This is the address she gave me. Unless she gave me a fake address, although I do not think that she would do this because she is very sweet and would not lie to me. Is this her house? Do you live with her?"

"Uh, yeah, that's my sister." The boy looked over his shoulder and called Marceline's name – Bonnie cringed at the sudden increase in volume. "Come in. She'll be down in a minute."

He stepped aside for her and she walked into the house, standing by the stairs. She felt the boy's gaze on her and shuffled awkwardly. "I am Bonnibel. I am friends with Marceline. She is very sweet and spends lots of time with me and I would like to spend time with her."

"I know," He glanced towards the stairs, "Marceline's told me about you. I'm Marshall. I'm her twin brother."

"I did not know that she was a twin." Bonnibel blinked down at her feet. "I know how twins happen. It is a very interesting process. It is also interesting how alike you look." She paused for a moment and looked Marshall over, glancing away when he looked back at her. "I think that Marceline is prettier. I do not intend this to sound mean if it did. It is my personal opinion because I like girls more than I like boys. Boys are weird. Is that odd?"

Marshall didn't have time to reply, as Marceline came down the stairs and paused at the bottom. "Bonnie? What're you doing here?"

"I am being spontaneous. My mother told me that it is a good thing even though it ruins my routines but I had a free space in time that I usually use to investigate a topic that I like." Bonnibel began rocking herself again. "I would like you spend time with you. Is this okay? Judging by your clothing, you are not busy."

Marceline nodded slowly and looked down at herself. "Uh… sure, I guess you could come upstairs. I can change out of my pyjamas if you want."

"No, this is okay," Bonnibel blushed to herself, "you are very beautiful."

"Oh, uh," Marceline looked away from her and turned to go back upstairs, "thanks."

Bonnie frowned and flapped her hands. "Am I making you uncomfortable? Do you not want me to tell you that you are beautiful? Is it because I am autistic? I do not mean to make you uncomfortable. I just wanted to make you happy and I know that complimenting people makes them happy, unless this has changed in recent years."

Marceline shushed her and sent her a smile that made her insides twist and turn, her cheeks oddly tinted pink. "You're not making me uncomfortable. You make me really, really happy. Okay? Don't ever think that I'd be uncomfortable around you because you're autistic."

Bonnibel blinked. "You are still my friend?"

"I'll always be your friend," Marceline nodded towards the stairs, "Come on. Let's go upstairs."

Bonnie followed her friend up the stairs and into a room. It was large – something she appreciated as closed spaces made her uncomfortable – and she found herself fascinated by the numerous instruments hung on the walls. She wondered how they'd sound, and if they'd sound better with Marceline playing them.

"Your bedroom is very nice." Bonnibel rocked herself backwards and forwards. "I am very happy that you let me in. I was frightened that you may be busy and already have a friend over because I am not good around people I do not know because they frighten me. People I do not know tend to be mean to me because I am autistic and I do not understand what I did wrong because I do not intend to make people upset. My mother told me that I will find the right people who will understand me and I will be able to understand them and I think I have found this with you."

"Well, you don't need to worry. There aren't any other people in the house aside from my brother, and he won't bother us. It'll just be you and me, and I'm glad that you understand me. That's cool." Marceline brushed off Bonnibel's worries with a simple smile. Then, she nodded down to the box that was in Bonnie's hands. "What's that?"

Bonnie blinked down at it, as though she'd forgotten it was there. "It is my microscope. I told you that I would let you look at things under slides and I was so excited for it and I just could not wait. When my mother told me that spontaneity would attract you I decided that I would be spontaneous and bring the microscope and slides to you. It is very expensive so you must take lots of care with it."

"Of course. Put it down on my desk." Marceline nodded towards the cluttered table that was on the other side of the room. "Sorry about the mess."

Bonnie flapped her hands in front of her. "I do not like clutter. May I tidy it? I cannot look at it because it is so disorganised. You must be tidy if you want to spend time with me. I do not like mess because it makes me uncomfortable and it is bad."

"If I'd have known you'd be coming, you could've told me and I'd have cleaned it up." Marceline walked over to her desk and began tidying things away. "I know you wanted to be spontaneous, but you could've texted me to say you were coming. That wouldn't have ruined it."

"Have I upset you?" Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut and kept flapping her hands. "I do not mean to. I only want to make you like me because you are my friend and I want to make sure that you stay my friend because sometimes people talk to me for a little while and make me think that I have a friend but then they get tired of me because I have upset them unintentionally because I cannot tell if someone is sad because of something I said. I do not want this to happen. I want you to like me and always be my friend."

Marceline finished tidying up her desk and walked over to Bonnie. She kept a respectable distance between them and slowly shushed her. "I already like you. You don't need to worry about that. You don't need to worry about anything with me and I'll never stop assuring you of that."

"I want you to like me more." Bonnibel mumbled. "I want you to be my best friend because I have only ever had one best friend and she turned out to be manipulative and liked to confuse me to make others laugh so she was not really my friend at all."

"I'm sorry that happened and I can tell that it makes you uncomfortable, so I won't ask you about that." Marceline held out her hand, "Do you want to hold my hand again?"

Bonnie shook her head. "No, I do not want to push myself. I am too uncomfortable and I do not want to go into sensory overload even though holding your hand is very lovely."

"Okay," Marceline backed up significantly, something that Bonnie appreciated, "You can sit down on my bed if you'd like." She watched as Bonnie sat herself down and flapped her hands in front of her. "I want you to tell me about something you like. I read online that you have special interests and I want you to tell me about one of them. Alright?"

Bonnie latched onto something else that had been said. "You have read about autism online?"

"Yeah," Marceline nodded, "I figured if I was going to be a good friend I should read up on things. I want you to be as comfortable as possible and I thought that being educated would be the best way to do that."

Bonnibel blinked in confusion. "I did not realise that you went to all that trouble to understand me. It is odd because nobody ever really tries to do that and I am overjoyed that you care so much. Where did you find things out?"

Marceline shrugged, "Loads of places. Books, google, all sorts."

"That is very sweet of you." Bonnibel kneaded her thighs through her jeans with the palms of her hands. "I am grateful that I met you. I will thank Lady for taking me to meet her friends because even though it made me uncomfortable at the time, I would not have met you because Finn would not have asked me to sit with you when you were doing mathematics. I would be lonely if I had not met you because although my mother told me that Lady would come and see me regularly, she has not. You have."

"Lady's sort of preoccupied most of the time," Marceline set her hand down on the bed and Bonnie glanced at it for a moment. Her stomach clenched and fluttered when she thought about holding Marceline's hand again. "She likes spending most of her time with Jake, and she has a bunch of clubs and stuff on some days. How did you know Lady, anyway?"

"Lady's mother is friends with mine and I had to spend time with her when I was little. She did not like me because she thought I was odd and I think I frightened her because I was not able to communicate properly as a child as I found it harder to pick up speech." Bonnie explained. "She did not understand that I do not like unexpected contact or contact at all from people I am not comfortable with and she used to poke me and I do not like being poked. She sometimes forgets that I do not like certain things and then does them anyway and although she is nice to me, it makes me uncomfortable when she forgets that I have sensory differences and I am extremely sensitive to most things."

Marceline sent her a soft smile. "You don't have to talk about your childhood or relationships if it makes you upset. You seem a little uncomfortable."

Bonnie blinked in confusion and shook her head. "I am alright. My childhood was mostly happy. I was lonely sometimes but I was never bullied at school because I went to a school for children with disabilities which helped me lots but like I have said I had to leave there because they did not offer college level courses which I am mostly taking at our school. However, they did allow me to skip a grade since I am supposed to be in eleventh grade right now rather than twelfth."

"You skipped a grade? That's really cool." Marceline smiled when Bonnie lightly touched her hand and started holding it again. "I knew you were smart, but I didn't know you were a genius."

"Yes. I am sixteen right now but I will be seventeen in a month and eighteen days." Bonnie kept her gaze trained on their hands. "I am excited for my birthday because my mother always cooks something nice for dinner and I usually get lots of science related presents. Would you like to come to my birthday meal? I will come to yours when you have your birthday, even if it is loud and there are lots of people, however I may not be able to stay for very long if that is what it is like."

"I'd love to come to your birthday meal, Bonnie," Marceline squeezed her hand softly and Bonnie's face flushed. "Since I already know that my brother and I are going to have a party for our eighteenth birthday and I know you won't like that much, how about we do something else? Just you and me. Would you like that?"

"Yes," Bonnie nodded enthusiastically, "I would like that very much because loud people will not be there and mean people will not be there like Ash. Why did you date Ash? I do not understand romantic relationships very well."

"It wasn't really a relationship." Marceline shuffled uncomfortably, but Bonnie didn't pick up on it. "It was mostly just… he was an outlet. I was going through stuff and he was there, offering a release. I never had feelings for him."

Bonnibel frowned. "How can you tell? I don't think I have ever experienced romantic attraction before."

"Well, when you like someone, you feel differently towards your friends than you do towards them. It's like… they make you feel fuzzy and it feels like there's butterflies in your stomach. They might make you nervous, other times maybe not." Marceline shrugged, "I don't know, it depends on the person. You just always want to be with them."

Bonnie gazed at Marceline's hand and thought about the things she'd been feeling lately. She always wanted to be around Marceline, and her stomach felt fluttery at the thought of seeing her. Did that mean something? She was unsure if she should ask, in case it would make Marceline uncomfortable, so she kept her mouth shut.

Talking to her mother later seemed like the best plan. For now, she'd show Marceline her microscope.

Bonnie shuffled and held eye contact with Marceline for a few moments, but looked away quickly before she began speaking. "I would like to show you how my microscope works. Is that okay?"

"Of course. I cleared a space on my desk for it." Marceline carefully took the box from where Bonnie had placed it on the bed and brought the microscope out. "Alright. Work your science, nerd."

Bonnie flushed and followed her over to the desk. She pulled out the other things she'd left in the box – slides and other small things they could look at – and began organising them. Before introducing what they were going to do, she looked over to Marceline and quickly boosted herself up on her tiptoes.

Bonnie softly pushed her lips to Marceline's cheek and then turned back to her microscope with cheeks that were stained a bright red red. "Thank you for letting me talk to you about science and show you things."

Although Bonnie didn't look around to see it, Marceline's face was as red as Bonnie's when she replied. "Yeah… no problem."


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bonnie gets some romance advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't proof read as thoroughly as I usually do because it's late and I want to go to bed so if there are any typos let me know.

"This is a very simple formula," Bonnie drew a line underneath it with her pen, "It is the Pythagorean theorem. I learned this when I was very young because mathematics can be very interesting and I find formulas like this fascinating as it is a strict set of rules."

"Right," Marceline stared down at it and nodded, "we've been over this before, haven't we? A few months back, I think."

"Yes, before I had made friends with you and when I sat by myself." Bonnibel fiddled with her pen and kept her gaze trained on the sheet of paper in front of them. "It is very easy and I like solving problems with it."

"I can see that," Marceline's gaze flicked over to Bonnie's worksheet and she smiled, "You really flew through those. Like I said before, you're a genius."

Bonnie flushed red and nodded to herself. "Thank you. You are very sweet."

"Let's talk about something," Marceline stretched and beamed when Bonnibel carefully held her hand. "Favourite thing to do after science and math?"

"Spend time with my family because I love them very much." Bonnie shuffled in her chair and frowned when she saw the seat opposite her being pulled out. "They are very special to me. You are also very special to me."

Marceline squeezed her hand softly. "That's sweet." Then, addressing the person who had just joined them, "Hey, Keila. Sick of sitting with the guys?"

"One hundred percent," Keila laughed and sent a comforting smile to an uncertain Bonnibel. "Hello, Bonnibel. Are you alright?"

Bonnie nodded in response and kept her gaze trained to her feet. She didn't like the idea of company; she liked it when it was just her and Marceline. That way, she had all of her friend's attention. Being ignored was something she didn't like, and when there were big groups of people, she tended to get left out.

"Bonnie and I were just talking about the things she likes doing," Marceline turned to her, "weren't we? Tell me more about the things you do with your family."

Bonnie eyed Keila suspiciously before speaking; although she'd spoken to Keila a few times in English class, she was still unaware of the other girl's motives. "I like to play games on the computer with my little brother when he does not have friends over. I also help him with his homework. My mother takes me to museums for days out sometimes because I really like museums."

"Maybe I'll take you to a museum one day," Marceline proposed, "It'd be fun."

Bonnibel's eyes widened and she managed to maintain eye contact with Marceline for a few moments while she nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, I would like that very much. Museum trips are always amazing but with you I think they would be even better because then I would be able to hold your hand at a museum and show you all of the interesting things."

"That sounds lovely, Bonnie," Marceline smiled at her, "How about this? I'll come and pick you up next weekend and we'll go on a little museum trip."

"I look forward to it a lot." Bonnie nodded, "What was that thing you said last time we made plans? Oh, yes – it is a date." She looked up and beamed at a surprised Marceline, and then looked over at Keila's worksheet with a frown. "You have not done your work."

Keila seemed a little stunned by the sudden change of topic. "Uh… no, not yet."

"You must do your work. It is very important if you want to get a good grade in the class." Bonnie shuffled awkwardly. "I will show you how to do it if you do not understand. I showed Marceline because she had forgotten what we had previously been over but it soon came back to her."

"I'm okay, but thank you for offering." Keila sent Marceline an odd look that Bonnibel had trouble deciphering. "Marceline better start remembering the formulas otherwise you're not going to help her."

"I will help her when she needs it because I care about her very much." Bonnie fiddled with her fingers. "But I will not do everything for her because there have been people who have used me for my intelligence before and I do not know how to tell when this is happening but I do not believe that Marceline will do this."

"Of course I wouldn't." Marceline beamed at her. "I'm here because I want to be your friend. That's all. Your occasional help in math is just a little bonus in exchange for my help on your English homework."

"Yes," Bonnibel nodded, "yes, that is correct. You are very considerate and you help me back. Others did not do this."

Marceline squeezed her hand again and Bonnie felt her heart jump. "Yeah. Do you want to talk some more about your family?"

Bonnie shook her head. "I would like you to tell me about your family."

Marceline just shrugged. "There isn't much to tell, really. I live with Simon – Mr Petrikov – because my dad is too busy with work to handle two kids."

"What about your mother?"

Bonnie didn't see the flash of sadness in Marceline's eyes at her words. She didn't even register the fact that it was a sensitive topic.

Eventually, Marceline just sighed. "I'd rather not talk about that."

Bonnie blinked. "Why? She is your mother. You are supposed to talk about your mother because they are important. I would like you to tell me about-"

"I don't want to talk about it," Marceline snapped.

The anger in Marceline's voice was enough to make Bonnibel recoil. She pulled her hand away from the other girl's and shuffled away slightly, keeping her head down. She felt a stinging sensation in her eyes, but she tried to hold back any tears; she was afraid that crying might make Marceline angrier. She felt so many different emotions all at once.

Mostly, she was just confused, because she didn't know what she'd done wrong.

"I am very sorry." Bonnibel mumbled. "I do not know what I have done wrong but I am sorry and I do not want you to hate me for upsetting you because I did not intend to. I care about you very much and I do not want to make you sad."

Marceline softly put a hand on the small of Bonnibel's back. She flinched, but didn't pull away, because she knew that Marceline wouldn't hurt her. "It's alright, you haven't upset me and you're still my friend. Just don't ask about my mom again, okay?"

Bonnibel nodded frantically and began flapping her hands. "Yes, okay, I promise I will never ask about that again because I do not want to make you hate me because I like you lots and you are the person that makes me happy at school and I do not want to go back to being lonely because lonely is bad and you understand me and make me feel appreciated and-"

"Take a deep breath," Marceline cut her off and carefully took her hand away from Bonnie's back, giving her space, "It's okay. Don't worry about anything like that. I'll always be your friend. You didn't know not to ask and I shouldn't have snapped at you. It's alright."

Bonnibel let out a breath as Marceline had instructed, "Yes. It is alright. I am still your friend."

"Of course you are." Marceline nodded. "I'm going to stop talking now and let you calm yourself down. Let me know when you're feeling better and we can talk about something fun, like our museum trip."

"Okay. Yes." Bonnibel turned to look at Marceline and nodded for a moment. "Yes. Museum trip with you."

Eventually, with the thought of that in mind, she managed to relax herself a lot quicker than usual.

* * *

There was a soft knock on the door, and naturally, Bonnibel looked over at her phone to get the day. It wasn't Tuesday or Thursday, and nobody else bothered coming into the science rooms. Whoever it was at the door didn't wait for her permission to come in and pushed open the door, and Bonnie frowned when she caught a glimpse of Lady before she looked down at her feet.

"Hey, Bonnibel," Lady smiled, as cheerful as ever, "how are you? I've come to see if you want to sit with me and my friends again. I told your mom I'd come and see you regularly, so here I am."

"It has been three months." Bonnie mumbled to herself. "You have not been here for three months and that is not regular and you did not give me any indication that you were coming to see me. I do not understand why you are here."

"To bring you to see Elle and Finn and Jake." Lady pulled out the seat next to her and smiled. "Come on, it'll be fun."

Bonnie shuffled uncomfortably. "Will Marceline be there?"

"No, she has a music thing on Wednesdays." Lady quickly dismissed her. "Why?"

"Because she is my friend and if I have to come with you I would like my friend to be there because she is lovely and respects me." Bonnie rambled, her cheeks staining pink. "I like her very much and I am trying to get her to be my best friend since I have never had a real best friend before who likes me especially and I would like this to be her."

Lady sent her a weird smile. "You like her a lot, don't you?"

Bonnie nodded quickly. "Yes, I do. I think she is very wonderful and I can hold her hand without feeling bad and she makes me smile and has made an effort to understand my autism and I think that I would like to be friends with her forever. She makes me feel happy and good."

Lady's face exploded into a grin. "I'm glad you're so happy, Bonnibel."

"Yes, I am very happy with Marceline because she does not try to confuse me and explains things to me in a way that I can understand and I am so happy that I have met her because she is lovely and I sometimes am confused about how she makes me feel but then at the same time I do not care because it is good." Bonnie rambled, her gaze falling onto her test tubes. "She lets me talk about my special interests and does not get bored with me."

"You should ask her out. I'm sure she'd say yes." Lady went to nudge her playfully, but stopped in her tracks when Bonnie flinched away.

"I do not know what you mean. I have already seen her outside of school twice and we watched science documentaries and I showed her my microscope." Bonnie fiddled with her fingers. "Is there something else I should do with her?"

"I don't mean like that." Lady laughed, but Bonnie didn't understand what was so amusing. "I mean like on a date. You should ask her out romantically."

Bonnie blinked in confusion. "Why would I do this? She is my friend and not my romantic partner. I do not understand romance and have never had any interest in it."

"You don't-" Lady cut herself off with a shake of her head. "It's pretty clear to me that you like her romantically. You always blush when you talk about her and you said you like holding her hand. Right?"

Bonnie paused in thought. This was similar to how Marceline had explained romantic feelings to her. Blushing and contact were in this equation as well? "I did not know that this meant I have romantic feelings for her. I have never had to differentiate between romantic and platonic feelings before."

"Well, think about how you feel towards someone like me and compare that to how you feel about Marceline. Is there a difference?" Lady asked her.

Bonnie frowned, and made a mental note to conduct some research on this topic when she arrived home. "Yes. Sometimes I do not like being around you because you forget that I have sensory differences and try to touch me and I do not like this. I only like contact unless it is from my mother or Marceline because I know that they will not hurt me in any way and I can only handle it in small doses."

An odd look that Bonnie had trouble deciphering crossed Lady's face and Bonnie felt a pang of guilt in her chest. She was unsure if she had offended Lady at all, and that was the last thing she'd wanted to do. She was just being honest and answering the question that had been asked.

Whatever feelings Bonnie had caused, Lady didn't voice them. Instead, she just shook her head and spoke again. "I think you should ask Marceline out on a date. You seem to like her very much and I know she likes you."

"Marceline likes me romantically?" Bonnibel blinked in confusion. "I did not notice this. She has not said anything."

Lady smiled reassuringly. "I can tell from her body language when she talks about you, because she does that a lot. She cares about you a lot and I'm sure she'd say yes if you asked her out on a date. You've got nothing to lose."

"But I could lose her friendship if she does not want me to like her in a romantic sense and I am still unsure as to if I do or not. I think I should speak with my mother about this." Bonnie shuffled uncomfortably. "She always knows me better than anybody and I am sure she will be able to help me understand what I am feeling."

Lady nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Are you sure you don't want to come and see everyone else with me now?"

"I am positive." Bonnibel looked back to her work. "I do not want to leave my work unattended. Please do not force me to go with you because I really do not want to as social interaction with big groups makes me uncomfortable and I do not like being stared at and Elle liked to stare at me and she called me weird which I am not."

Lady's soft smile melted into a look of something else and Bonnie was unsure as to how she could interpret it. "You don't need to be scared of them. If Marceline was there, would you come?"

"Yes," Bonnie hardly hesitated before replying, "I would come because she would make me feel better."

"Marceline sits with us on Mondays if you'd like to come then? I could come here and get you and you could sit with us for a little while." Lady offered, "I don't want you to feel as though you're alienated from everyone. I care about you and I don't want you to feel bad about anything."

Bonnibel blinked, trying to untangle what Lady had just said. "Yes, I will come with you on Mondays because then I can surprise Marceline and sit with her and talk to her about her interests because if I do end up being romantically involved with her then I would like to know things about her. Although I do not think she will like me romantically, I will try and be appealing. My mother told me that spontaneity was attractive and I was not sure why she was telling me how to attract Marceline when I am already friends with her. Do you think my mother knows that I like her?"

"I think she does." Lady nodded and sent Bonnie a soft smile. "You've got to be confident if you want her to like you, even though I'm positive she already does. Confidence is attractive."

Bonnie hummed in thought. "Yes. I will attract her through confidence. Thank you for your advice."

Lady beamed. "Don't worry about it. I'm going to go and see everyone else now. Are you sure you're going to be okay in here by yourself?"

"I like it in here by myself." Bonnibel took her time in responding. "I like it when Marceline visits too, but I like being able to do work because it helps me prove that I am intelligent and I can stay at the top of school for science."

"Okay," Lady stood up and headed towards the door, "bye. See you next week, Bonnibel."

"Yes," Bonnie waited until Lady had left the room to finish her sentence, "next week."


	8. Chapter 8

"Thank you for offering to bring me to my favourite museum." Bonnibel blinked down at her feet and shuffled nervously. Slowly, she unbuckled her seatbelt and nervously reached over to rest her hand on Marceline's. "I understand that it was a much longer drive than going to the museum in town and I am very happy that you would like to see all of the exhibits here."

"I wanted to make you smile." Marceline's comment easily elicited a pink blush on Bonnie's cheeks. "If this would make you happy, I'm glad to do it. You're my friend and I care about that kind of thing."

"Yes. Friend." Bonnibel nodded. "General admission is very cheap here because they mostly rely on donations and I like giving a donation every time I come because I like supporting my favourite place."

Marceline hummed in thought. "Well, I'm paying for the both of us so I'll give you some money for you to donate, if you want."

"You do not have to pay for me. I have money with me that my mother gave me this morning. She was very happy that I am seeing somebody this weekend because usually I just do my homework and study on a weekend and I do not think she likes this." Bonnibel pulled her hand away from Marceline's and left it on her lap. "Are we going to go inside now?"

"Yes," Marceline unbuckled her seatbelt and skirted around the car to open Bonnibel's door for her. "What kind of stuff are you excited to see today?"

"I like all of the sections but I love the ones that are mainly directed towards science because I love science very much." Bonnibel fiddled with her fingers as she followed Marceline inside, unsure as to why she had a growing feeling of nervousness in her chest. "I would like today to go well because I would like to go on more trips with you and I am afraid that you will not want to go on trips with me if this does not go well."

"Of course it's going to go well." Marceline leaned in front of her to pay for their admissions. "Everything usually goes well when we hang out. Why would this be any different?"

"Because this involves a public setting and I sometimes cannot handle being in a public setting because it is very hard for me when there are lots of other people around and public places can be loud and I do not want to go into sensory overload because people look at me funny when I do and I do not like being looked at like I am weird or strange because I do not like people treating me differently because I am autistic." Bonnibel rambled, managing to hold eye contact with Marceline for a few moments before speaking again. "I used to have this friend and she was always mean to me when I went into sensory overload in public because it embarrassed her and she told me that if it kept happening she would no longer be my friend and that frightened me a lot and I do not know how you will react in this situation and not knowing is scary."

Marceline was quick to shush her. "Hey, don't worry about that. I wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen with you, and even if you did go into sensory overload, it isn't like you can help it. The girl you used to be friends with sounds like a jerk."

"She was very mean although I did not know that at the time because sometimes she would be nice and tell me that she cared about me." Bonnie murmured, closing her eyes as tightly as she could. "It made me sad because she would always touch me without my permission and call me a freak when I was uncomfortable or went into sensory overload because of it. I remember one time when we were in public and it was very loud and I covered my ears with my hands she called me a freak and held my hands down so I could not do that because it was embarrassing her and she would not stop touching me when it caused sensory overload.

"She always used to act like being friends with me was a chore and like she was being a good person for spending time with me but she never actually wanted to spend time with me and acted like I was stupid because she always used to roll her eyes when I asked questions about things I did not understand and call me an idiot when I was just confused about something she said. She used to talk very figuratively when I spoke to her and if there were people around she would laugh at me when I did not understand and pretend that she didn't know me when she was with her friends and if I spoke to her when she was with someone else and it wasn't convenient for her she would say bad things to me like call me the 'r' word and I hate that word so much."

Carefully, Marceline placed a hand on Bonnie's shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze. "Try not to think about her, alright? It makes you upset and I don't want you to be upset on our museum date. If you still want to, you can tell me about her later. Okay?"

Bonnibel nodded quickly and wiped at her eyes with her palms. "Yes. Okay. I do not like to think about Phoebe because she hurt me a lot and it made me think that everyone who speaks to me nicely in private will be like her if I approached them when they are with others. I do not want you to call me the 'r' word if I try to talk to you when you are with your friends."

"I wouldn't. Ever." Marceline sent her a reassuring smile as they entered the first section of the museum. "You're my friend and that isn't just an on again, off again thing. If you're someone's friend, you can't decide when they're allowed to talk to you, and you can talk to me whenever you want. You have my phone number and I can always make time for a call."

"You are very amazing." Bonnibel mumbled. In the most awkward way imaginable, she reached over and hugged her friend, but pulled away quickly. Hugging wasn't something she was very fond of. "Thank you."

Marceline smiled. "No worries. Now, come on. Let's take a better look at the museum."

* * *

"This one is my favourite exhibit," Bonnibel's hand circled around Marceline's wrist and she pulled her towards the dinosaur section, "It is very interesting to learn about prehistoric life and how the world has evolved. Plant life from millions of years ago is very interesting and it is my favourite aspect of biology."

"I always liked dinosaurs as a kid." Marceline commented, "I thought they were really interesting. If we're talking scientific interests at a young age, I'd say dinosaurs and space."

"Outer space is fascinating." Bonnibel gazed at the exhibit with mild interest as the tips of her fingers ran down Marceline's wrist to twist together with her friend's. "I like it very much. The physics of it is all very interesting and informative but I think I still like chemistry better because it is more practical and I want to be a doctor when I am older and chemistry is very important in that. What do you want to be when you're older?"

"I don't really have anything specific that I'm thinking about." Marceline shrugged, "Something in music, definitely."

"I have a very specific plan because it is comforting to have something mapped out." Bonnie stared down at her friend's hand, which was locked with hers. "Do you like holding my hand? I like holding your hand but isn't holding hands something romantic? I am fairly certain that our interactions are not romantic."

Marceline was quick to respond. "Of course I like holding your hand, and it doesn't have to be romantic."

Bonnie frowned when something dropped inside her and her throat closed over. "Lady has told me that it would be possible for you to like me romantically, however I have not been familiarised on relationships between two people of the same sex before as my mother has not educated me on these things. Is this a normal thing?"

"It is," Marceline nodded, "but do you know if you like girls?"

"I do not like males in general as they are loud and tend to be aggressive towards me. I have never had a crush on a boy before but I always assumed that I did not care for romance and relationships, however I have recently identified feelings towards you that are not strictly platonic." Bonnibel kept her gaze glued to her feet, as she was too frightened to look up; she wouldn't be able to get Marceline's reaction mapped out in her mind properly from body language alone, and not knowing would terrify her. "Will this impact our friendship negatively? Because I do not want to lose you even though my feelings towards you are of a different nature to your feelings."

Marceline sighed, and Bonnie wasn't sure if it was good or bad. It kept her on edge, and she began flapping her hands in front of her in an effort to stay calm. "Are you asking me for a relationship? A romantic one?"

Bonnibel frowned. "No. I am asking you if my feelings for you will negatively impact our friendship. Unless I implied that? I am not sure. I have never been in a situation similar to this so I do not know what is socially acceptable to ask. I am sorry."

Marceline's reply was slow. "Let me get this straight, you have feelings for me?"

Bonnie nodded. "Yes. Romantic ones. You are very pretty and kind and I have developed feelings recently although I was not able to identify these very well, and I have had help from my mother and Lady and they have encouraged me to ask you on a date, however I am not sure how a romantic interaction between us will differ from a platonic one."

"Okay," Marceline nodded slowly and Bonnie could feel her eyes burning holes in the back of her neck. "Alright. I mean… I kind of like you too? I just- I wasn't going to tell you about it because I figured that romantic relationships weren't your thing."

"They never have been in the past because I do not like many things that are included in a typical relationship such as hugging and contact but with you I like contact very much." Bonnibel rocked backwards and forwards on the balls of her feet and beamed up at Marceline. "I am overjoyed to know that you return my feelings. What typically happens from here? Will you take me on a date? What are the differences between what we are doing now and a romantic date? This is all very interesting and I would like to learn more about the social schema if that is okay. Learning new things is very interesting and it may help me understand things if we are to begin having a romantic relationship."

"Well, I mean… I don't really know. All relationships are different in a way." Marceline explained as Bonnibel gazed up at her in awe. "You want me to be your girlfriend?"

Bonnie looked down at her feet and considered this for a moment, before nodding. "Yes. I would like you to be my girlfriend. Does this mean I get to hold your hand even more than usual?"

"Yeah, if you want." Marceline grinned at her. "We can work up to the other stuff. I know that physical contact isn't something you favour."

"Other stuff?" Bonnie inquired with a frown. "What does this 'other stuff' entail?"

"Hugs, kisses… all sorts." Marceline replied. "It all differs depending on what you're comfortable with. It's not like there's anything compulsory. Just as long as the feelings are there and we spend time with each other, that's all that really matters."

Bonnie latched onto one thing in particular. "Kisses… I have never kissed anybody. Is this a bad thing? I would like to kiss you at some point but I am wary because I do not know what my sensory reaction will be and touch is particularly sensitive to me because of my autism. I have kissed your cheek before, will this be similar to that? I am sorry that I am asking so many questions."

"It's okay that you're asking questions. You're just… trying to understand it all, and I get that." Marceline smiled when Bonnie shuffled closer to her and started holding her hand. "It shouldn't be too different from kissing my cheek."

"Okay. I will try it at some point, but I am not sure when." Bonnibel gazed over at one of the exhibits. "My mother told me that spontaneity is attractive so I will be spontaneous and kiss you as a surprise to attract you, as long as you are okay with unexpected contact."

"That's fine, Bonnie," Marceline assured. "You do what makes you comfortable and happy, okay?"

Bonnie nodded to herself. "I am very happy that you reciprocated my romantic feelings. I did not think that you would because I can be awkward to be around and I assumed that romantic relationships meant that you must have lots of physical contact and I cannot handle this in large doses and I thought that you would want someone that can and I am thankful that you are very understanding and respectful and I will try and give you respect and understand you in return but understanding you is hard for me and I am sorry if I do something wrong."

"I don't think you'll do anything wrong. We'll be fine." Marceline smiled down at her. "I'm proud of you for stepping out of your comfort zone and telling me."

Bonnie blushed. "Thank you. I am also proud of myself for doing this. I did not know how it would have turned out so I am glad."

"Do you want to go and get lunch?" Marceline craned her neck to the left and looked over at the cafeteria. "It doesn't look to busy in there."

"Yes." Bonnie nodded. "Yes, lunch sounds very nice."


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for any typos. I wrote this in the middle of the night and it's the result of sudden inspiration.

"Knock, knock."

Bonnibel's expression soured. "I am not very good at knock knock jokes."

"It's not a joke. Just me announcing my presence." Lady pushed her way into the science room and stretched. "Come on. I said I'd take you to sit with my friends today."

"I do not want to sit with your friends." Bonnibel shook her head. "They think that I am weird and I do not like being thought of as weird."

Lady rolled her eyes. "They don't think you're weird."

"No," Bonnibel insisted, "I know that Elle does not like me. She said that I was a weird girl the last time I sat with you and she did many things that frightened me. I do not want to be there if she is there."

Lady sent her an odd look – it was vaguely playful, but that was all Bonnie could get out of it. "Marceline will be there."

Bonnibel perked up at the mention of her girlfriend. "She will? Oh, I will join you in that case. I just did not want to be alone and I know that Marceline will include me because she is lovely."

"Come on then," Lady nodded towards the door, "everyone is already sat in our usual spot outside. They're just waiting for us."

Bonnie stood up and followed Lady out of the science room and through the corridors, excited to see Marceline. She hadn't seen her since she'd dropped her off at home the other week and she was nervous to see how things would differ between them now that they were now in a romantic relationship.

She wondered if Marceline had told anyone. Maybe Keila? Or her brother – if they were siblings, that meant that they were close, didn't it? Bonnibel was very close with her little brother.

She asked herself lots of questions in her head as she followed Lady. Would Marceline address her as her girlfriend in front of people? Would there be a different greeting now that their relationship was of a romantic nature? Would Marceline try to initiate physical affection?

Turns out the answer to all of those questions was a no.

Marceline just smiled at her as she sat down, said "Hey, Bonnie," and then looked back to her phone. It felt exactly like the day they'd first met. Like she didn't belong.

Awkwardly, Bonnie shuffled closer to Marceline and flapped her hands in front of her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Elle sending her a look similar to that of most of her peers, and she knew that she didn't want to be associated with her. Because that would make her 'weird by association'.

"Hello," Bonnie stared at Marceline's phone, "who are you messaging?"

"Keila," Marceline replied, "she wanted to know if I could come and practice music with her but I just said no."

"Why did you say no? I thought you liked music more than anything in the world. I thought that you liked music as much as I like science and I like science very much." Bonnie rambled. "Why did you say no to Keila?"

"Because you're here. I'd rather spend time with you than play music. I see Keila a lot – she can go without me for one lunch break." Marceline slowly grabbed Bonnie's hand. "So, how are you today?"

"I am happy now that I am with you." Bonnibel murmured. She looked around herself, feeling a little self-conscious as she was aware of Elle's eyes still on her.

"I'm good too," Marceline responded to the return question Bonnie wouldn't ask. "Do you not like being outside? You look a little uncomfortable."

"I like being outside because there is lots of space but because it is a nice day today there are lots of people outside and it is hard to concentrate when many things are going on at once." Bonnibel answered. "It is nice being outside with you, though. I liked it when you took me to your quiet place and we relaxed together and you posted a picture of us on your Facebook profile because you were proud to be my friend."

Marceline opened her mouth, presumably to reply, but was cut off by a loud and nasally voice that made Bonnie cringe.

"I wasn't aware you'd made another friend, Marceline," Elle's gaze swept over Bonnie like a wave of judgement, not that Bonnie could tell that she was looking at her negatively. All she knew was that she didn't like being stared at, especially by virtual strangers. "She doesn't seem like your type."

Marceline frowned. "Didn't know I had a type."

"Well, I figured you'd only hang around with normal people," Elle poked Bonnie in the arm and she jumped back, right into Marceline. Usually, if she'd fallen on someone she'd recoil, but it was Marceline. For some reason, she was different. "Normal people don't do that when someone touches them."

"I am not weird." Bonnibel flapped her hands in front of herself, having a negative reaction to Elle's touch. "Do not call me that."

Elle raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because normal people sit there waving their hands all day, don't they?"

Bonnibel looked up to Marceline with wide eyes. "I do not like her."

"Yeah," Marceline agreed, "me neither. Elle, shut the fuck up. You're not cool for making fun of an autistic person. Relay that message back to Phoebe, too."

Bonnie froze at the name. Elle knew Phoebe? She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. No, this was all too much for her to handle. "Marceline. I would like to leave."

"Of course," Marceline helped her up, "you go back to the science rooms. I'll be right there."

Bonnie shook her head almost frantically. "I do not want to be alone. Please come with me?"

"I'll be right behind you. Set off now and I'll catch up, okay?" Marceline prompted her. "Go on. I'll be two minutes."

After a moment of hesitation, Bonnibel made her way back to the science labs by herself. She wasn't sure why Marceline wouldn't come with her straight away; thinking about it made her nervous. She was half expecting Marceline not to show up at all when she arrived back in the lab alone.

She sat in her usual seat and tried not to think about what Elle had said. _You've heard worse_ , she kept telling herself, _she didn't call you the 'r' word_. Reassuring herself was something she'd gotten good at over the years.

After a few minutes alone, the science room door was pushed open and every muscle in her body relaxed. "Marceline."

"Hey, are you okay?" Marceline sat down next to her and sent her a careful smile. "I'm sorry I didn't come back with you. I had to put Elle in her place and I didn't want you to see me angry."

Bonnibel nodded. "That is understandable. I have seen you angry before for a few moments and it was very frightening but then you reassured me and I am not afraid of you at all because I know you would never hurt me, especially now that you are my girlfriend."

"Exactly," Marceline concurred, "but we need to focus on something else – cheering you up. You know what would be fun? If you showed me some cool science stuff."

"What kind of science? There are many different aspects and I could not possibly explore all of them in one lunchtime." Bonnibel fiddled with her fingers. "Chemistry is my favourite."

"We'll do chemistry, then." Marceline sent her a toothy grin. "Show me what your favourite thing in chemistry is."

Bonnibel's face exploded into the biggest smile Marceline had ever seen. "There are many things that are fascinating about chemistry, I could not choose just one aspect, but I get very excited about hydrocarbons and isomerism. I will explain that for you."

When Bonnie jumped up from the desk and grabbed a textbook with an incredibly enthusiastic demeanour, Marceline couldn't help but smile with her.

* * *

"Marceline?"

A hum. Then a shuffle.

A hand fell on Bonnie's shoulder and she jumped. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. I am writing up an optional essay for Simon's class and I wanted your attention because I would like romantic affection." Bonnibel explained herself and shuffled awkwardly. "Unless you do not want to give me romantic affection? I still do not understand how to ask for romantic affection even though we have been in a relationship for two weeks and three days. Is it supposed to come unprompted? This is all very confusing. Romantic relationships have never been my area of expertise because I have not experienced this before."

"I'd love to give you romantic affection, and it's okay if you want to ask for it." Marceline beamed and led Bonnie over to the couch, sitting them down. She carefully took Bonnie's hand in her own and turned on the TV. "Let's watch something, okay?"

Bonnibel shuffled awkwardly and stared over at Marceline with wide eyes. Her girlfriend was staring at the television, probably picking something for them to watch. "Would it be alright if we watched a science documentary? I do not like fictional programmes very much because a lot of them rely on pragmatics and hidden meanings and I am not very good at identifying these. Most people do not like watching fictional shows with me because I ask lots of questions and it ruins it for them but I do not mean to do this."

"We can watch whatever you like." Marceline looked over at her and Bonnie looked down to avoid eye contact. Marceline set the remote control on the couch next to her. "You pick what we watch. I'm fine with anything."

Bonnibel picked up the control and scrolled to the documentary channels, choosing one about prehistoric life. "I like documentaries very much. They are factual and factual shows are easy for me to follow and I like it when things are easy to follow because I find a lot of things hard to understand and I do not like being confused about things that are easy for others to get because it makes me feel like I am weird."

Marceline squeezed her hand. "Bonnie, you're not weird. You just think differently and that's not a bad thing. Don't ever think that it is."

Bonnibel nodded to herself. "I will not call myself weird again because you do not like it when I do that. I just think differently. Yes. I like that because it makes me feel like I am unique and my mother has told me that being unique is a good quality. Does being unique attract you?"

"Everything about you attracts me." Marceline beamed at her. "You're a very attractive individual."

Bonnibel flushed a bright pink colour and shuffled awkwardly. "Thank you. I like it when you compliment me."

"No worries." Marceline turned away from her and looked over at the television screen, and Bonnibel decided that it was okay for her to look up.

She stared over at Marceline and tugged at the polo shirt she was wearing with her free hand, unsure of what to do next. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to sit quietly and watch the documentary, or if there was supposed to be something more. All of the research she'd conducted on this particular topic – aka three hours of Google searches about how she was supposed to act in a romantic relationship – hadn't really prepared her for this. Everything the internet had told her involved contact, and Bonnie wasn't sure how she felt about lots of contact with Marceline. She liked holding her hand, but she didn't know if she was ready for more or if she'd be able to handle it. She'd only ever managed a few minutes cuddling with her mother before she had to pull away because of too much sensory input, and she trusted her mother more than anyone else in the world. She wasn't sure how she'd react to Marceline; Bonnie recoiled even when Neddy, her brother, tried touching her.

Cautiously, Bonnibel shifted a little closer to Marceline. She'd hoped to be a little more inconspicuous, but naturally, Marceline turned around in confusion.

"Are you okay?" Marceline's expression read concern and worry, but Bonnie didn't infer that. Instead, the redhead's gaze shot down to her feet and she nodded frantically. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Bonnibel confirmed. "I would like you to watch the documentary because I am going to try something but I do not know if I can do it if you are looking at me."

Marceline frowned. "What are you going to try?"

Bonnibel shook her head. "I am trying to be spontaneous so I cannot tell you that. Unless you are uncomfortable in case you are afraid that I may do something bad? I promise you that I would never do anything bad. Phoebe never used to let me do things because she always thought that I would try to hurt her and believed that autism caused violence but it does not and I am not violent and I do not ever lash out unless I am in sensory overload and people are poking at me and even then I try not to because I have been taught that lashing out is wrong. I never ever want you hurt you and I would like to try something and it will not hurt because I would never hurt you because you are my favourite person in the whole wide world."

Quietly, Marceline shushed her and let go of her hand. Bonnie appreciated that; Marceline always seemed to know when she needed to stim and never chastised her for it or told her that it was weird or unnecessary. "Calm down, alright? You can go ahead and do whatever you want. I know you'd never hurt me, sweetheart. I'm going to watch the television and you can do the thing you want to try. Okay?"

"Yes. Okay." Bonnibel let out a few breaths and gave herself some time to relax. Then, she looked over at Marceline again and gradually moved closer until their legs were touching. She allowed herself to get used to the sensation before resting her head on her girlfriend's shoulder and sucking in a deep breath.

Bonnie allowed her muscles to relax and tried to wrap her arm around Marceline's waist; one website she'd visited had told her that it was romantic to do that, but it felt awkward so she quickly let go. Instead, she rested her hand on her lap and shifted so her entire left side was pressed up against Marceline's right, her head on her girlfriend's shoulder.

"I am giving you romantic affection." Bonnibel explained her intentions in case Marceline was uncomfortable. "Is this okay?"

Marceline smiled and slowly ran her fingers through Bonnibel's hair. When the redhead didn't recoil, she took that as a sign to keep going. "This is wonderful."

"I read on the internet that you are supposed to cuddle with your romantic partner because according to the websites I visited, touch is an important part of romantic relationships." Bonnibel elaborated. "It made me feel upset because I do not like touch because my senses are very heightened and I want to be a good romantic partner but I am not sure how to do this in a way that would make this relationship worthwhile for you."

"You're already making this relationship worthwhile, Bonnie," Marceline assured her, "just by being with me. Contact isn't necessarily important. Like I told you a few weeks ago, it's the feelings. Not everyone likes being touched and it's not a big deal if you don't want that."

"Alright." Bonnibel kept that in mind. "I do not mind this level of contact but I do not know how long I will be able to handle it for. I am sorry if I offend you by pulling away."

Marceline surprised her with a minor subject change. "Why do you always worry about offending me?"

"Because sometimes I offend people unintentionally and I do not understand how I offended them and they do not tell me what I did wrong." Bonnibel murmured. "It is very confusing and it usually results in the person that decided to speak to me no longer being my friend and it makes me very upset because I do not want this to happen with you. Phoebe used to tell me I offended her and pretend to leave so I would feel sad and then come back and it made me very scared that people will do this to me in the future."

"Don't think about what Phoebe did to you. I know that sounds hard, but good people aren't like that. I won't be like that." Marceline pressed a kiss to her cheek and Bonnie flushed. "Try not to worry, okay? Worrying is never good."

"Yes. That is very true." Bonnibel nodded. "I will try and not worry about your intentions because I know that you are wonderful and would never do anything bad."

"I'm glad to know you think I'm wonderful." Marceline smirked at her and she blushed. "Come on. Let's focus on the documentary. Okay?"

With a wide smile and a few moments of eye contact, Bonnie nodded. "Okay."


End file.
